*Well my lovely readers, it's finally update time! I hope you enjoy~ Next update will be on April 25th, so please don't ask for another update sooner. As of right now I'm going to keep updates weekly, so please be patient!*

You didn't know how long it had been. You continued to walk through the streets until you legs grew too tired to walk any more. Instead of finding somewhere warm and inside to rest, though, you instead stumbled your way into an old playground, long since abandoned for the winter. Once there, you curled up under the shelter of the slide, thinking about everything and nothing at all. You had long since stopped shivering, you teeth, which had been chattering, were now still. Your eyes were open but dazed, and you weren't really seeing anything, barely even registering the white snowflakes that drifted around you. You weren't crying anymore, as the tears that had been steadily flowing from your eyes had frozen to your cheeks and stopped.

You're mind felt blank and heavy, and your emotions were just gone. You didn't know what to think anymore. You'd kept going over everything Mitchell had done, picking out every gesture and expression that seemed off. They all did now. Every smile was rehearsed, every movement planned, nothing about your relationship had ever been real. Once you'd come to that conclusion, you hadn't been able to stop yourself from looking at yourself; blaming yourself. If only you'd payed enough attention, if only you'd listened to Chris' and Mettaton's warnings, if only you'd not blinded yourself towards his discrimination. If you could feel you'd be disappointed with Mitchell, but you were also highly disappointed with yourself. Eventually that feeling gave way to the void and cold, and then you felt nothing at all.

You weren't really sure how long you sat there for, but after a while of being numb, you became aware of your phone ringing. That was the first thing that started bringing you back. You didn't want to come back to reality though, because reality hurt. Even so you slowly uncurled your arms, lifting your head from where you rested your chin on your knees. The display was lit up, and the device vibrating, signaling someone calling your phone. You barely read the name blinking at you, and just vacantly stared at the picture of you and Mettaton making duck faces. It was Mettaton's ID. It rang through to voicemail, and the screen went dark again. A second later it lit up once more, this time showing a picture of Undyne and Papyrus sticking their tongues out at you. Undye's caller ID. You let that ring through too. Your phone didn't light up again, and you went back to sitting in silence.

As the night wore on, you became aware of footsteps crunching to and fro in the snow. They never came close, just past the park by as they went on with their night. You never called out to them, and they never noticed you. Absentmindedly you counted the number of people that past, and was up to five when something changed. A sixth set of footsteps approached, hurrying through the snow towards you. This set started and stopped, then started again, walking slowly then hurrying to an almost run. They called out a name, which you were to drawn into yourself to recognize, then kept hurrying on. They came closer, but instead of hurrying past they paused again.

"kitten!" They yelled. "(y/n)!"

They sounded like someone you knew, but you didn't lift your head or call out to them in response. You were too far gone inside yourself to really register who it was, just that it was someone you knew. The voice prompted you to come out of the silent shell you hid yourself in, but instead you drew yourself in further. Inside you shell it was safe, inside, you didn't have to think about the pain or remember things you'd only question.

"(y/n)!" They yelled again, crunching closer. You lifted your head, and spotted a figure coming towards you. The air was thick with snow though, so you couldn't make out who they were. You caught them lifting their hand towards their ear, then as if on queue, your phone began to ring. You glanced down at the screen again, listening to it, watching as a picture of Sans snoozing on the couch lit up on the display. The sound cut out through the night, and the figure swung his gaze towards you, finally noticing you huddling in the cold. "kitten!" They yelled again, running towards you. As they came closer they came into focus, and you slowly looked up at who they were. First you saw pink slippers, then black shorts, a blue sweater, and a white head. Sans, you thought mutely, watching him approach from a disconnected perspective.

"holy shit are you okay?" He said, sounding both worried and relieved. "what the hell are you doing out here? how long have you been sitting here?"

You didn't answer, just sat there staring dumbly at him, you head tilted in a way that allowed you hair to cover your left cheek. His presence slowly started to draw you back to reality, thawing you from the inside out. Relief was the first thing you felt, but then you grew worried.

"and where the hell is you jacket? and you're shoes for that matter?" Sans continued to fret.

At this point, Sans pulled the slippers from his feet and forced you to uncurl enough for him to slip them on yours. He then undid his sweater, took you hands and pushed them through the sleeves, then zipped it up to your neck. His kindness and worry unlocked your emotions in you, and all of a sudden you found yourself crying again. Silent tears slid down your cheeks, and Sans noticed immediately. His face fell in sympathy, and he lifted his hands to wipe away your tears. In doing so, he brushed away the hair covering your face, and rubbed against your sore cheek. You flinched, and Sans' eyes narrowed.

"kitten, what happened." He asked, trying to look at your cheek. You instinctively tilted your head away, trying to hide the mark. Even though you were relieved he'd found you, you didn't want him to see what had happened. Sans frowned, then grabbed your chin and forcefully tilted your face so he could see. His reaction was immediate. His frown deepened to a fierce scowl, and his eyes darkened dangerously, the lights of his eyes fading away almost completely. "who did this?" He asked, voice low and dangerous. You shook your head, not knowing how to answer. "kitten, tell me who did this." He asked again. You simply shook your head again. Sans swore, and you shivered. Sans' slippers and sweater were surprisingly warm, and had started to warm you up. As such, you'd begun to shiver again, and your teeth were chattering lightly. As a response to this you tucked your arms around your torso, and pulled your knees up to your chest again. "shit. i'm taking you to Toriel's."

"No!" You protested suddenly, voice hoarse, surprising both yourself and Sans. He lifted his eyebrows at you, his eyes lighting up a tiny bit more. You realized you didn't want anyone else to know. Not yet. Sans sighed and shook his head, then scooped you up in his arms, somehow, turned and took a few steps forwards. You began to panic a little, wondering where he was taking you, and fearing you'd end up at Toriel's. You blinked, and a second later you found yourself being placed on the couch in Sans and Papyrus' house. Sans moved to grab you a blanket, or three, and quickly went about wrapping you in them. Two went around you from your neck you your feet, and the other one he wrapped around your head and back after pulling up the hood of his sweater. He then kneeled beside you and urged you to speak again.

"kitten please, i'm only trying to help. tell me what happened. is this why you called me?" He reached for your cheek, brushing his fingers ever so gently across the cut on your cheek. You flinched away, and shook your head again. Sans swore once more, and stood, running his hand over his skull in agitation. Shivers wracked your body as you began to warm up, and Sans looked like he was between anger and worry. "so you won't tell me what happened and you don't want help? is that it?"

You didn't answer, just tucked your chin into the blankets and remained silent as you shivered. Sans grunted in irritation, rubbing his skull and beginning to pace. His eyes were dark, and he didn't seem to know what to do. Frankly you didn't know either. You knew you should tell him, and you really had no reason not to. But you were torn between allowing yourself to trust him and not knowing if you could trust yourself. Just then your phone decided to start ringing, and slowly you pulled your hand out from the warmth of the blankets to look at the screen. It was Mettaton again. You didn't answer this call either, just stared at the screen. Sans seemed to think differently about your not answering, stalked over, and snatched the phone out of your hand. He slid the answer call switch, and held the phone to his ear.

"(y/n) where the hell are you? Why haven't you been answering your phone!" Mettaton's voice blasted through the speaker. It was rare to hear the robot yell, or swear.

"Mettaton it's me." Sans answered, and the robot went quiet for a moment. You heard the dull buzz of him speaking, but couldn't make out the words. "yeah, i found her. she... i don't know. she was sitting in the snow. i don't know what happened to her, she won't say anything. yeah, no, again i don't know. i think she's in shock or something."

"What do you mean 'or something'!" Mettaton yelled again.

"i'm not a doctor Mettaton!" Sans snapped back. "she was freezing her butt off in the snow, no jacket or shoes, with a cut and bruise forming on her cheek! she's sitting on the couch now, trying to warm up." More murmuring on Mettaton's end. "she didn't want to go to Toriel's." A pause. "again i don't know what happened!" This time Sans was quieter for longer, listening to Mettaton rant about something. After a moment Sans glanced towards me, then walked a few paces away towards the kitchen. "yeah, that's probably best. alright. talk to you in a bit."

After that he hung up, and came back over to the couch. You were shivering badly now, teeth chattering rapidly as your shoulder shook uncontrollably. Sans noticed this and swore, then ran up the stairs, and disappeared into his room, then into Papyrus'. He came back out holding an armful of clothes, dropped them off in the bathroom, and came back downstairs. Once he got to the couch he quickly pulled the blankets off you, and carried you up the stairs putting you down on the closed toilet seat. "you can't stay in your wet clothes. you can change into these, okay? i'll wait outside."

You nodded slowly, and Sans exited the bathroom, closing the door behind him. You sat on the toilet for a second, numbly and shivering, before slowly moving to strip down from your now wet and cold clothes. You pulled on the clothes Sans left for you, wondering what belonged to who. The pants were clearly Papyrus', as they clung loosely to your hips and gathered around your ankles with a good number of inches of fabric to spare. Somehow Sans had dug up a pair of thick woolen socks, and you pulled those on under the pants. The white cotton shirt was probably Sans' as it was around your size but clearly made for a person with larger shoulders. The hoodie, however was way too big for your, and was vibrant red. Also Papyrus' then, as the sleeves hung well past your hands. Without bothering to roll up the sleeves or legs of the pants, you shuffled towards the door and pulled it open. You didn't look in the mirror either. Sans was leaving on the wall outside the door, and immediately came over when he spotted you. He pulled up the hood of the hoodie, rolled up the sleeves so they barely covered your hands, and the pant legs so you would walk without tripping. Only it turned out you didn't have to. As soon as Sans was standing up again he swept you up again and carried you down the stairs, depositing you back on the couch and rewrapping you in all the blankets.

"are you sure you don't want to tell me what happened?"

You shook your head. He sighed heavily, squinting at your cheek. You ducked your head into the blanket again, seeking out the warmth it provided.

"is your cheek related to why you were sitting out in the cold?"

You hesitated, then nodded. He swore, then got up and started pacing.

"is that why you called me?"

Another nod. He didn't ask anything else, just kept pacing, looking at you and the door from time to time. You wondered why, but didn't ask. From time to time he'd run his hand over his head in agitation, but other then that his hands were either crossed or shoved into the pockets of his pants. After about a half hour of shivering, you had finally warmed up enough to feel your fingers and toes again. It wasn't pleasant, as you felt pins and needles painfully working through your limbs every time you tried to move them. It was at that time that the door was knocked in, basically flying off its hinges as it slammed into the wall. You jumped, and Sans stopped pacing.

"(y/n)! ARE YOU OKAY!" Papyrus yelled in worry, bowling into your side and smashing you into the couch. You grunted, but didn't respond or push him off.

"Papyrus." Sans snapped, grabbing his brother's arm and hauling him off of you. Papyrus gave his brother a confused and worried look, but backed off anyway. After him every other monster you knew and called a friend filed into the room, expressing worry and thankfulness that you were okay.

"(y/n) what were you thinking? We were all so worried about you!" Mettaton was the next to get over to you, and proceeded to sit out the couch beside you and pull you into a tight half hug.

"Why weren't you answering your phone!" Undyne yelled, stomping to a stop right in front of you. "Do you know how long we looked for you?"

"U-undyne you shouldn't be yelling at her." Alphys actually scolded, pushing Undyne to the side a little. "O-oh no! W-what happened? No wonder Mettaton wanted me to bring this." She said after noticing your cheek, placing a brown leather bag on the floor in front of you and opening to dig through it.

Frisk was the next to get over to you. She was being carried by Asgore when they came in, and quickly clambered down. She ran over to you, climbed onto the couch, and started rapidly signing at you. "Are you okay? I was so worried about you! Mom wouldn't let me help look for you but I wanted too! I'm so glad Sans found you before you froze to death!"

"Frisk, give her some space." Asgore said, easily picking her off the couch and putting Flowey down on the table beside you.

"Next time you want to disappear," the flower snapped. "Don't."

"Are you feeling alright no, child? Are you still cold?" Toriel came over next, placing a hand on your forehead. "Oh, I hope you don't catch a fever."

"H-here, let me see your cheek." Alphys came over, gently tilting your head to the side so she could see your cheek better. You didn't resist, feeling overwhelmed. Everyone that had come in was wearing outdoor clothes, and other than Frisk they looked like they'd been out in the snow for a while. Their boots were covered in snow, and their cheeks were flushed as if they were chafed from the cold. Your shut down emotions returned in an avalanche, swamping you with sadness, relief, and gratefulness. Even though you'd been doubting yourself, and the trust you'd put in others, these monsters never doubted you for an instant, and come out searching for you even when they didn't know what was wrong. Before you could stop yourself, you were crying again. This time they were huge, wracking sobs, that had you gasping for breath. You hugged your arms around yourself under the blankets, finally feeling warm after so long in the cold. You still didn't know if you could trust them, but you wanted to try. You'd never felt so safe before, so cared for. They were the only ones who came looking for you, based off a vague call you made to Sans. Around you the monster's faces softened, and Mettaton pulled you into a tight and comforting hug.

"It's okay, darling. You're okay." He soothed, and you felt Frisk wrap her around around your back. Pretty soon all the other monsters joined in the hug, not really understanding why you were crying but knowing you needed the comfort none the less.

You cried for a few minutes, before you finally managed to find your voice through the tears. "He hit me." You said quietly.

"What?" Mettaton asked, being the only one who really heard you through your tears. He pulled back to look at you, and everyone else followed suit, wondering what you'd said.

"He hit me." You tried again, a little louder. There were mixed reactions, most notably Papyrus' loud gasp, Toriel's soft one, and Mettaton's narrowed eyes.

"Who hit you, honey?" Mettaton prompted, but when you simply broke down further he tried to guess. "Mitchell?"

You forced yourself to nod, seeking comfort in your blankets. You didn't know how they were going to react, but you hoped you were right in letting yourself trust them with this.

"Oh baby." Mettaton soothed, drawing you back towards him in a tight hug.

"I'll kill him!" Undyne roared, cracking her knuckles and heading for the door. Asgore stopped her by grabbing her arm, tugging her back towards the group.

"Now's not the time." He murmured.

Undyne let out a growl, and harshly punched the wall, cracking the paint and creating a large dent in the dry wall. Seeming to try vent her anger a little, she started to pace across the floor, towards the kitchen and then back towards the door.

"HOW DARE HE! WHY WOULD HE DO THAT?" Papyrus shouted, seeming to share Undyne's rage. As he yelled he stomped his foot loudly on the floor, the sound causing you to flinch. Your fried nerves just weren't ready for his loud reactions, though you knew he meant well. You pressed yourself against Mettaton's chest, seeking both comfort and protection. Even though you knew there was no threat, you still felt nervous and scared from his raised voice. Lingering fear, you supposed. You knew it was Papyrus, and you knew he'd never hurt you, not like Mitchell, but right now you just wanted quiet. Somehow, once again, Sans seemed to pick up on that.

"Papyrus, seriously, keep your voice down. whisper if you have to."

"S—" he started at his regular volume, then covered his mouth and tried his best to whisper. "SORRY." He almost managed a normal speaking volume, which you appreciated greatly.

"I-it's okay Papy," you whispered, hating the hoarse cracking of your voice, casting a glance in their direction. "I guess I'm just a little jumpy."

"And you have every right to be, sweetheart." Mettaton soothed. "Now I know it's hard but can you tell us what happened?"

Your eyes widened a little as the memories of the past few hours flashed through your mind. You wanted to tell them, you really did, but the pain was too fresh in your mind, and you didn't think you could. Not right now anyway. So you shook you head a few times, blinking away the tears and the memories. Maybe in time you could open up, but that time wasn't now. If you tried you felt like you'd break. You felt like a delicate china doll, perched precariously close to the edge of a long drop that would no doubt shatter you into millions of pieces. Enough pieces that'd you'd never be put back together again. And the scariest thing was that the slightest breeze could send you plummeting over the edge.

"It's okay, child, we understand." Toriel soothed, rubbing your back. "But if you'd like to talk know we're all here for you." You nodded, trying to calm yourself down again and stop crying.

"C-can I look at your cheek?" Alphys asked, approaching once again. This time you nodded and let her, extracting yourself from Mettaton's grip and only resisting slightly when she tried to turn your head. Knowing the cut had to at least be cleaned, you finally allowed her full access to the mark, and let her brush your hair away from your cheek. She frowned at the sight, and you nervously chewed your bottom lip, letting your eyes roam back to Sans. His eyes were narrowed dangerously at your cheek, and his glowing white pupils were nowhere to be found. Everyone else in the room seemed equally peeved at the sight of your cheek, and you wondered how bad it was. Alphys went about gently poking your cheek here and there, looking over the cut. She then started to gently cleaning the cut and area around it. After rubbing at your cheek with a damp cloth, she dabbed at the cut with a rubbing alcohol soaked cotton ball, which stung like crazy, but you didn't flinch away. After she deemed the cut cleaned she applied some sort of ointment that took the pain away in a cooling manner, then applied a rectangle of gauze and taped it in place just under your eye.

"Thank you." You murmured.

"Y-you're welcome. I didn't think it needed stitches, and I don't think it'll leave a scar. Just make sure to keep it clean and dry."

"Okay."

"Wait, you said he slapped you right?" Undyne suddenly questioned, pausing in her pacing. "Then how did he cut your cheek? That jerk better not have—"

"He didn't." You shook your head. "He wears this ring on his finger. That's what cut me."

"he shouldn't have hit you in the first place." Sans snapped. You nodded, looking down at your hands. It was then that you realized you were still wearing the ring. Disgust and defeat worked it's way through you, and you pulled the right from your finger, tempted to throw it across the room. You wanted to, you did, but after such an emotional day you could only let it slip from your fingers and hit the floor in defeat. You were just too tired now. After crying your heart out, running away, being found and then taken care of, you were just exhausted, and you no longer seemed to know what to do with yourself.

Toriel seemed to be the first to pick up on this, and acted immediately. "As much as I agree, right now I think (y/n) needs some rest."

You nodded in agreement.

"Where should she stay? Cause I sure as hell ain't letter go back to that b—"

"Of course not. She'll stay at one of our places." Mettaton decided with a nod of his head.

"She should come stay with us!" Frisk voted.

"She might be better off down here. Underground, I mean. Mitchell hates monsters, so he wouldn't set foot in their domain." Mettaton said, tilting his head in thought. That was true, and Mitchell knew where Toriel's house was from the photos. You shuddered slightly at the thought. Maybe that's why you'd rejected the idea of going there when Sans had tried to take you earlier. You unconsciously didn't want to go anywhere Mitchell could get too.

"then she will stay here." Sans said in an I'll-take-no-arguments kind of tone. You glanced up at him, feeling once again relieved. Mettaton was right, Mitchell would never come down here, and you were glad Sans had offered.

"That might be best," Toriel sighed. "You live the furthest from the former Barrier."

"And he'd have to get through us to get here!" Undyne declared.

"I guess I can hang down here too." Flowey grumbled. "Block off the path or something."

"I want to stay too!" Frisk said rapidly.

"I think you should come home with us." Asgore told her.

"But I want to stay!"

"You can always come visit her in the morning, child." Toriel soothed. As much as you loved Frisk to death, you knew that this was probably the best. You were tired and fried, and didn't know if you'd be any fun to be around in the next little while. Now that you'd calmed down once again, and weren't numb to everything around you, you were feeling overwhelmed. All you wanted to do now was curl up under the covers somewhere and sleep for the next three days. You were glad to have the monsters support and presence, but knew you needed time and space. At least for a little while. Frisk pouted, but then finally nodded in agreement. Then she yawned widely, and the monsters decided it was time to go. They knew you were safe, and would be well looked after in the skeleton's household.

"Don't worry about that a-hole coming to find you." Undyne said, being the first to say goodbye and head for the door. "He won't even get past the entrance while I'm around."

You nodded in appreciation and watched as Alphys packed up her supplies. "Be careful with your cheek, okay? I'll come back to check on you tomorrow."

"Bye (y/n)!" Frisk hugged you once more around the waist before heading to the door where Asgore still stood. "I'll see you tomorrow okay?"

"Okay." You smiled just a little at her.

"Get well soon, child." Toriel soothed down you hair before giving you a loving peck on the top of your head.

"Don't worry bout a thing, darling. Not even work. I'll call Chris and let him know what happened in the morning. Okay?" Mettaton cooed, holding your hands and giving them a comforting squeeze. A twinge went through your heart at the thought of involving Chris, but you knew it had to be done. But wait, what about work? Now you were thinking about the fact that you still had to perform in a few days, and once again you felt lost and confused. "Just focus on getting better," he continued, seeming to pick up on your distress. "You leave working and worrying to me."

All you could do was nod, unable to shake the feeling of being lost. What were you going to do? You didn't know if you were going to want to perform in a few days, and you knew that would leave the shows organizers in a bit of a bind. And you'd also left everything behind when you fled the apartment, including all your work supplies. Even if you were going to perform, you'd need things like you computer, iPod, and clothes to even practice. The thought of going back to that place, even if it was to get your belongings, sent a cold shiver down your spine. You wrapped your arms back around yourself, trying to smother the panic clawing at your heart again. So lost in your worries again, you barely noticed that everyone had left besides Papyrus and Sans until the door had closed behind them and Papyrus slid the lock into place. The sharp click startled you out of your daze, your memories threatening to drag you back down into fear and devastation, and you looked around it nervous confusion.

"DON'T WORRY (y/n), YOU'RE SAFE HERE!"

"T-thanks..." you murmured, staring at the floor and blinking hard. You couldn't start crying again, and based on the pressure building behind your eyes you figured you'd be sobbing again soon. As you did so your eyes drooped lower and lower, becoming harder and harder to keep open.

"we should let you sleep. you can take my room if you like." Sans offered, finally pushing himself off the wall but keeping his arms crossed.

"No, I'm okay here." You mumbled, already turning so you could lie down. As you did you tugged at the blankets that once surrounded you, trying to get them back on. Sure a bed might be nice, but you were half way between not caring where you were as long as you could sleep and not wanting to take someone else's bed from them. As you pulled you feet back onto the couch Sans approached and helped tuck the blankets around you again, wrapping you in a cocoon of warmth.

"GOODNIGHT (y/n)." Papryus said, heading for the staircase with a yawn of his own.

"try to sleep as long as you can, okay?" Sans half ordered, half soothed, finishing his work and backing off. Through sleepy and worn eyes you nodded at him, no longer able or wanting to keep yourself awake anymore. You wondered briefly how a day that started off so well ended so terribly, and if you'd ever get the sense of normalcy you had before back. You didn't know. Clearly nothing could go back to how it was, you'd never go back to Mitchell if you could help it, but that meant everything had to change. Who knows though, maybe this change would be for the better in the end. No it would be for better, but it might take some time. With that thought and a sense of determination, you let your eyes slide shut and drifted into sleep.