Here it is my lovely readers, chapter twenty two! Sorry if there are any mistakes and for the long wait...  Enjoy!

After a bit of convincing and a bit of organizing, you finally managed to get the entire crew together for your tobogganing extravaganza. You were excited for a number of reasons; you had the day off, you hadn't been tobogganing in a while, you had the whole day to hang out with your friends, and he who shan't be named was the furthest thing from your mind. Oh, and by whole crew you meant Sans, Papyrus, Mettaton, Alphys, Undyne, Toriel, Asgore, Frisk, Flowey, Muffet, Temmie, and last but not least, Nabstablook. Pretty much everyone you'd grow to know over the past few months.

Now, you lead the charge up the hill with Papyrus, the rest of the group minus Toriel, Asgore, Flowey, and Muffet. They had opted to stay at the bottom of the hill so they could set up a kind of picnic rest/warm up area for those of us braving the large hill we found. Flowey on the other hand, stayed behind because he "had no arms" in which to hold onto the toboggan with. Toriel and Muffet had kindly thought to bring an assortment of food and hot chocolate for our enjoyment between toboggan runs. So while they waited you and the others brought six toboggans of various sizes up the hill.

"can i ask why we're hauling these things up the hill again?" Sans puffed from somewhere behind Papyrus and you, sounding a little winded. While Papy and you led the charge dragging the largest classic toboggan between the two of you, the rest of the group braving the hill trailed behind. As you initially suspected the monsters were largely unfamiliar with the concept of tobogganing, as they had heard of it but never had the chance to go. It was funny really; even though they lived close to a constantly snowed in town, they hadn't partaken in any of the winter activities you could only participate in during the winter months. Luckily they now had you to introduce them to such things!

"BECAUSE!" Papyrus answered, turning his head to look back at the others. "TO QUOTE (y/n), 'IT'S PART OF THE EXPERIENCE!'"

"Thank's for the support Papy." You grinned, turning to look behind you as well. "Besides, we all agreed when we got here that we'd trek up the hill for the heck of it."

And that was the truth! Though Sans offered to teleport people up and down the hill, the majority of the group voted against it. Who would want to miss the five minute hike through the snow uphill only to have a 10 second ride back down? Not you, that's for sure. Take away the hike and you take away all the exercise in tobogganing.

Soon enough, Papyrus and you reached the top of the hill, and you parked the toboggan sideways just away from the edge of the hill so it didn't leave without you.

"Come on slow pokes!" You called down to the others. Maybe that hadn't been such a good idea in hindsight.

Undyne let out a battle cry, "NO one calls me slow!" Before she started plowing up the last ten feet to the top of the hill. On her way she swept up Frisk, who was in her way, and carried her and two crazy carpets up the rest of the way. When she reached Papyrus and I she threw Frisk at Papy and then plowed into you, taking you down into the snow.

"Oof!" You coughed, cringing as snow went down the collar of your shirt. "Undyne!"

"Taste my revenge fool!" She laughed, shoving snow into your face.

"Ack! Uncle, uncle!" You sputtered, pushing her away. She laughed again, but rolled off of you and helped you to your feet. You scrunched up your nose and stuck your tongue out at her, then brushed the snow off your jacket as best you could. During your little scuffle, the remaining five participants managed to catch up. While Alphys and Temmie were the only two not carrying anything, Nabstablook pulled a smaller two person sled, one with metal skis on the bottom, and Sans and Mettaton carried an inflatable tube each. In a very Sans like fashion, as soon as he made it to the top of the hill he threw his tube to the ground and sat down in it, a safe distance from the curve of the hill.

"SANS THIS ISN'T THE TIME TO SLEEP!" Papyrus stomped his foot impatiently at his brother's antics.

"it's always time to sleep." Sans replied, sinking rather happily into the hole in the center of the tube. A bright idea struck you then.

"Looks like we have our first volunteer!" You beamed, skirting Sans' tube before shoving it towards the downwards slope of the hill. "Ready?"

"don't you dare." Sans started, but his objection came too late. And because of how he was sitting, he couldn't get up fast enough. Undyne and Mettaton quickly joined you, and with one mighty shove he was over the edge and spinning down the slope. You were glad he conveniently forgot about his little teleporting trick just then, otherwise that wouldn't have worked. Frisk laughed silently as Sans started gaining speed, then eagerly jumped on her crazy carpet after them. Next was Undyne on the other crazy carpet, and Alphys on the tube Mettaton handed over. Temmie quickly claimed the front seat of the two person sled, and Nabstablook went with her. That left you, Papyrus and Mettaton.

"Shall we?" Mettaton said, offering you a hand.

"But of course!" You replied, taking his hand and letting him lead you to the remaining sled. As per "regulation" you sat on the sled from shortest to tallest, putting you at the front, Papyrus in the middle, and Mettaton and the end. But as Mettaton started pushing you forwards a thought occured. "You know how to steer one of these, right?"

"Nope!" He answered merily, pushing the three of you over the edge of the hill. You would have protested, but it was a bit too late for that. So you just grabbed the front of the toboggan and hoped for the best. Luckily the best case scenario panned out, and the toboggan simply went straight down the hill. And besides, Mettaton seemed to grasp the concept of steering the long sled pretty quickly, making sure you didn't hit anything or anyone on the way down.

When you reached the bottom of the hill where everyone was waiting, you coasted to a halt then ran to join the others. "So?" You asked expectantly.

"Let's go again!" Undyne cheered. Everyone seemed to share the same excitement, and with Undyne leading the charge and everyone trailing behind, you began plowing up the hill once more, and the day continued like that.

This time you claimed a seat on the sled for the way down, leaving the toboggan to whomever grabbed it first. Undyne refused to give up her crazy carpet, claiming it was the only thing here that traveled fast enough for her tastes. Papyrus managed to convince Frisk to trade his spot on the toboggan with her crazy carpet, and before anyone could get a word in edgewise he and Undyne were racing like nobodies business. Mettaton took Frisk, Alphys, and Temmie down on the toboggan, with taking the spot in front of you on the sled. Sans seemed content with his tube, and went down after the rest of them the same time you did.

After the second run, the nine of you kind of played musical chairs, except with toboggans instead of chairs. Everyone seemed to want to try everything, with people even going so far as simply changing seats on the large toboggan. Even those waiting at the bottom of the hill joined in the fun for several rounds, with Asgore and Toriel taking seats on the toboggan, then taking turns with Frisk on the sled. Even Flowey got dragged down a run or two with Frisk. Muffet agreed to try one run on one of the tubes, but then decided it wasn't for her and returned to the blanket and picnic blanket. In between every couple runs people broke off to take breaks, drinking the still warm hot chocolate and eating the snacks brought. The spider donuts were especially good. Having warmed up the bulk of the group went back to the hill, leaving Toriel, Asgore, Muffet, and Nabstablook behind.

When we reached the top of the hill a new idea struck me. "Hey! Let's have a race."

"YOU WISH TO RACE AGAINST THE GREAT PAPYRUS? A BOLD MOVE INDEED! NYEH HEH HEH!" Papyrus boasted, striking an impressive pose.

"FUHUHUHU! A RACE? Bring IT!" Undyne yelled, grabbing one of the crazy carpets and readying herself.

"Wait! Don't the crazy carpets go faster than the other toboggans?" Frisk rapidly signed.

"the tubes are pretty slow." Sans nodded.

"W-well, if we p-put the heavier p-people in the slower toboggans, they g-go a little faster." Alphys imputted.

"TeMmiE wANt tO raCE!" Temmie suddenly shouted.

"We will Temmie." You nodded to the little vibrating monster. "But yeah, that's usually how it works. The bigger you are the faster you go. At least from what I've seen."

"You all just want an UNFAIR advantage." Undyne growled. You didn't want to comment on her weight or make an estimate, but she was the second tallest of the monster up here. Mettaton definitely trumped everyone in that category though, since he was the tallest and made of metal. Sorry Mettaton. You thought.

"seems fair to me." Sans commented with a grin, holding out one of the tubes to Undyne. She glared at him, but begrudgingly traded sleds. If looks could kill...

"Well, why don't we try it this way first, and see how things go?" You quickly imputed, trying to defuse the tension.

"Fine, but I'm STILL going to cream ALL of you!" Undyne snapped, throwing the tube down in the snow. "But I ain't staying in this tube if Mettaton isn't in one too."

"Never said I wouldn't be in one." Mettaton said, striking a fabulous pose, hair flip included, before taking the remaining tube from Alphys. He set himself up beside Undyne, waiting for the rest of us to divvy up the toboggans according to Alphys instructions. When everything was said and done, Alphys and Frisk were awarded the crazy carpets, you on the sled, and Sans was paired with Papyrus on the toboggan. Temmie decided she wanted to ride with you, sitting on the back of your sled. And, while trying to sort all that out, Nabstablook had kindly come back up the hill so he could act as referee.

"Is everyone ready...?" He asked quietly, hovering over the snow in front of the racers but in a gap between the two tubes so he wouldn't get hit.

"Lets GOOOOO!" Undyne yelled.

"On your marks..."

Everyone dug their heels in the snow, preparing to kick off.

"Get set..."

Almost collectively everyone leaned forwards. Undyne started laughing under her breath, Frisk clapped excitedly, Temmie started vibrating, and Papyrus, rather loudly, asked Sans if they were going to win.

"... Go..."

As soon as the quiet word was out, you collectively took off. Nabstablook faded out of the way as you roared past, probably to wait by the finish line you decided on.

"NGAHHHHHHH!!" Undyne yelled as she shot down the hill, quickly taking the lead with Mettaton right behind her. Papyrus and Sans pulled up beside her, with Frisk quickly gaining ground. When you, Temmie and Alphys caught up, it seemed like it was going to be a pretty close race.

That is, until Undyne decided it was a good idea to cheat!

Just when it looked like Papyrus and Sans' would pass her, Papyrus laughing excitedly and leaning forwards to urge the sled on only to be pushed pack by Sans' elbow, Undyne leaned over the edge of her tube to gather snow in her hand. Abandoning steering completely, she cocked her arm back, took aim, and let fly a sizable snowball. The snow splatted against Papyrus' head, causing to jump in surprise and miss direct the sled. Luckily Sans was able to help him get the sled back under control, before turning to glare at Undyne.

"we said no magic!"

"I'm not using magic!" Undyne yelled back, breaking off into a laugh as she collected more snow. Something seemed to pass through the group then, and suddenly the seemingly innocent race turned into an all out war. All the monsters quickly rearranged themselves, launching their own snow based attacks to the contestants they thought posed the largest threat. Which meant the attacks switched targets depending on who was in the lead. A moving snowball fight. The only one who didn't really participate was Alphys, though when she got close enough to Undyne she started making and passing her girlfriend snowballs, making Undyne's hard throw even more deadly. Now she had speed on her side as well as accuracy and strength. Clearly those in pairs had the advantage, which meant Sans and Papryus had the greatest advantage because they were actually on the same sled. Papyrus had pulled his legs back onto the sled so he would concentrate on the offencive, while Sans took over steering from the front. Mettaton seemed to be doing okay on his own, multitasking steering with his feet and creating snowballs with his arms. Frisk was weaving and dodging like a pro, not seeming fazed at all by the attacks reigning down around her.

Unfortunately for you, you were on your own. You couldn't both steer and throw snowballs, and since you were on a sled you had to concentrate more on the former rather than the latter. But you did get a good few throws off, mainly aiming for Undyne. It soon became clear you couldn't win on your own against the paired up monsters, so you decided to try a bit of a different tactic.

Spotting an opportunity when Frisk steared her crazy carper closer, you quickly skidded over as close as you could to her. "Frisk!" You hissed, trying to draw her attention but not the others. She glanced over at you curiously, letting you know she was listening. "We aren't going to win on our own! I'll try to get Mettaton on our side, and try to make an opening for you!"

Frisk grinned then nodded, Temmie vibrating excitedly on the back of your sled at the prospect of tag teaming your opponents. Breaking away, Frisk darted away from you, heading back to the middle of the group, and you slowly started working your way over to Mettaton. When you got close enough, you continued to "pst!" at him until he paused and glanced down at you, arm freezing at the ready to fire a projectile at Undyne.

"Well hello there darling." He smiled slowly, tipping his hand so the snowball could plop harmlessly into your lap. "Come for a quick visit?"

"I come with a proposition, actually." You answered, swiping the snow off your lap and ducking as one of Papyrus' projectiles sailed over your head. "We both know we aren't going to win on our own, so why not create an opportunity for someone else?"

"Hmmmm? What are you suggesting?"

"Team up with me and Frisk, to insure one of us wins."

"An TeM tOo!" Temmie cried from behind you, jumping back and forth between you and Mettaton's toboggans.

"Let's take those losers down." Mettaton grinned wickedly, using one hand to flip his bangs. "I'll grab Undyne, you take care of the skeleton problem. Let's get Frisk across that finish line."

You grinned happily, then broke off from Mettaton to head towards Sans, leaving Temmie behind on Mettaton's tube. You wondered how best to go about taking on the brother duo, skittering along the snow slightly behind and beside them. Frisk was still weaving and swerving between the snowball barrage raining down around her, and after catching your eye nodded confidently. She was ready. With Mettaton's signal to go ahead, the four of you launched your attack.

Mettaton acted first, driving his tube as close as he could before cutting across the front of Undyne's. With the tubes lined up, he cried "Oh this is more than I can bear!" dramatically, throwing one hand across his forehead and digging his fashionable heels into the snow. Slowing down so suddenly caused Undye to crash her tube into his, nearly spilling her into his lap.

"Mettaton! Move you shiny butt!" She yelled, enraged by his actions. He merely let out a very dramatic sigh, and waited as Temmie jumped from his tube onto Alphys. She started vibrating violently, causing snow to kick up in Alphys face.

"Ack! Temmie! Stop it!" She sputter.

Seeing this as an opportunity, the skeleton brothers shared a look then urged their toboggan faster. "PREPARE TO TASTE DEFEAT UNDYNE!" Papyrus yelled happily, assuming victory was in their hands. Unbeknownst to them you had maneuvered to the opposite side of them, preparing for the only thing you could think of to do.

"And you should prepare to taste snow!" You laughed, suddenly and sharply turning the back of your sled towards them, sending a wave of soft snow over them.

"ACK! (y/n)!" Papryus cried in dismay. Instinctively the two slowed, unable to see or steer properly in the snow raining over them.

"Go Frisk go!" You yelled, watching as she shot out of the war zone, skittering over the snow as fast as she possibly could.

"you'll have to do better than that, kitten!" Sans smirked over the shower of snow, elbowing his still sputtering brother before urging the sled faster. They quickly shot out from under your range and sped after Frisk. You turned your sled and caught up as quickly as you could, determined to protect Frisk from defeat. You also may have wanted to defend your honor, but only a little bit. You'd be darned if the brothers got the best of your. With no other plan of attack, you decided to take a risk and to do something stupid, and probably pretty dangerous. Lining up your sled alongside the toboggan, you took a deep breath and did something, as you said, really, really stupid.

As soon as your sled was directly beside Sans, you prayed the snow was soft enough for what you were planning and launched yourself off the wooden platform. You dove at the brothers, not really aiming for a specific one, but somehow managing to grab both of them; Sans by the hood of his jacket and Papyrus by his long red scarf. You'd actually been aiming to get on the sled to throw them off balance and cause some mayhem, but you ended up having to go with plan B.

Drag them off the toboggan and into the snow.

You didn't quite manage to get your full body on the toboggan between the two monsters, and when your legs hit the snow you ended up pulling them both onto the hill with you. Sans let out an "oof!" as he hit the snow and began rolling, and Papyrus let out a strangled cry. As soon as they were off you let go of their respective clothing articles, and rolled along in the snow with them. By the time you stopped, nearly at the bottom of the hill, Frisk had already passed the finish line. You let out a cheer with Mettaton and the others waiting at the bottom of the hill, then realized how ridiculous the three of your must look. Papyrus was sprawled out in the snow slightly further down than Sans and you, facedown and in a starfish position. Sans, on the other hand, was half over half off your legs, laying on his stomach at a 45 degree angle to you. You were also on your back, craning your neck so you could look down the hill with your arms forming a T to the rest of you.

"THAT WAS A DIRTY TRICK (y/n)!" Papyrus suddenly yelled, pushing up out of the snow and standing quickly. He was quick to wander off, heading to where the others were waiting, muttering loudly and brushing the snow from his outfit. "AND I BLAME YOU FOR ENCOURAGING HER SANS!" He called over his shoulder.

All you could do was laugh, then wince as Sans' hipbone dug into your lower thigh from the movement. You reached over and pushed at his ribs, ordering him to roll over with a sharp, "Off boney!"

"this is your own fault." He mumbled into the snow, before complying and rolling to the side. As he did so he scooped up a hand full of snow, and flung it into your face.

"Sans!" You sputtered, wiping the snow away before following him and rolling over him, face to face, inches apart. "That was mean."

"says the one who pulled us off a toboggan." He shrugged.

"Well," you leaned a little closer, "you have to admit. That was pretty good."

"not exactly what i meant, though." As he spoke, you noticed as a slight blue tinge lit up his cheekbones. For a second you wondered what the blush was from, but then realized the closeness and intimacy that might be associated with the position. Suddenly the urge to kiss him swept through you, and you couldn't help but imagine what it would feel like. He didn't exactly have lips, but would his teeth be cold? Would he be able to feel it like you did? Sans watched you carefully from below you, questioning gaze piercing your own. Would he even accept a kiss from you? You had no idea, and neither did you know where these thoughts were coming from.

But just before you could come to any sort of decision Mettaton decided to voice his own opinion on the situation. "Just kiss already!"

Startled and embarrassed, you and Sans shot apart like lightning, you rolling quickly to the side to bury your face in the snow, Sans shooting to his feet and pulling up your hood. If your face wasn't red before, it was now. Your cheeks were absolutely on fire, but inside you kind of regretted not taking that advice sooner. Sometimes Mettaton had real bad timing. Now the atmosphere around the two of you was extremely tense and awkward. With an uncomfortable groan, you pushed yourself to the side and began rolling down the hill. You couldn't think of a better way to escape such an awkward and embarrassing situation.

"Are you alright child?" Toriel asked when you rolled over to the group, now hiding your face in your hands.

"Just fine." You mumbled, throwing your arms out before pushing yourself to your feet. No one commented on what just happened, a number of them looked like they wanted too. Not wanting to answer the questions you had no doubt were sitting on a number of their tongues, you attempted to divert their attention elsewhere while trying to decipher what you were feeling inside. "I don't know about you guys, but I could go for some hot chocolate."

"Wonderful idea!" Toriel agreed, brushing some snow from Frisk's hair. "I'll warm up the hot chocolate and tea." Luckily for you the thought of a warm drink was enough of a distraction to divert the group away from you. As you turned towards the waiting blanket being guarded by Muffet, you caught Mettaton's knowing smirk, before he turned himself and flounced over to Papyrus' side. You rolled your eyes, but knew whatever information he thought he'd gained from the situation would come up in a conversation later. Pausing so you could walk at the back of the group, you glanced over as Sans fell into step beside you, walking with his hands in his pocket as per usual, face back to its normal white. You didn't think anything of it, but nearly stumbled when you felt several of his knuckles brush against yours, even though the gloves. It was barely a whisper of a touch, and for a moment you thought your imagined it. You tried not to react, but couldn't help peek at him from the corner of your eye. His hand remained out of his pocket, which was abnormal enough for him, but that slight blue tinge had returned to his cheeks as his hand clenched and unclenched as he walked. He looked like he was debating something internally. When he glanced towards your and met your gaze, he blushed a little brighter and shoved his hand harshly back into his pocket.

But once again before you could react or say anything you reached the blanket, and your thoughts were interrupted when Mettaton threw an arm around your shoulder for whatever reason and tugged your towards the others. Sans drifted off, and you were left wondering what his intention had been, and what he'd been thinking about. You wanted to ask, but didn't know how. And the questions drifted to the back of your mind when Muffet asked if you wanted tea or hot chocolate. After making a decision, Toriel handed you a steaming mug and a slice of butterscotch-cinnamon pie. Sitting down on the edge of the blanket, you took a sip of the drink and all you could think was thank god for fire magic. No drink would have stayed warm in a thermos in this kind of weather. As the liquid warmed your from the inside out, you dug into your pie and joined in the banter with your friends. Undyne was still bitter over Mettaton's actions during the race, but they went about verbally jabbing each other in a playful manner as everyone settled on the blanket. Toriel made sure no one's mug went empty, and that everyone was sufficiently warmed by the time the thermos' ran out. Mettaton claimed the seat to your left with a mug of tea and hand, while Sans joined you on your right, and your couldn't help but watch him out of the corner of your eye.

He was casually leaning on his left hand, making bad puns and jokes with Toriel as he sipped on hot chocolate. You were kind of surprised he hadn't stashed a ketchup bottle among the thermos's, but your thoughts soon turned away from that and back to Sans hand. You couldn't help but wonder if he'd been trying to work up the courage to hold your hand before while you were walking. Had he been? You couldn't be sure. Mustering up your courage, you decided to try to see if you could answer your own question. Shifting your position a little bit, you leaned over on your right arm and shifted your hand until it was mere millimeters from Sans. Taking a steadying breath, you shifted your hand ever so slightly until your fingers were barely touching his. Out of your peripheral vision you watched as he jumped slightly at the contact, glanced down at your hand, then over at you, then back at your hands. You kept your attention trained on Mettaton, pretending to be paying attention to him instead of Sans. Pretending not to notice.

You did notice, however, when Sans shifted his hand as well. Not away like you'd kind of been expecting, but further towards yours. It was just a slight adjustment really, hardly noticeable at all. But in doing so he interlocked your fingers, barely past the first knuckle, but enough so that you could feel the constant pressure of his fingers against yours. You resisted the urge to smile happily, to glance over at Sans, to blush, to read too much into what this might mean. What did it mean?

For you it meant hope, and that realization went through you like a shock. A jolt of electricity that sent your heart and mind reeling. It meant a confirmation of feelings you didn't quite know what to do with. You thought you had something similar with Mitchell, but now you realized how wrong you'd been. This was different. Special. All encompassing and burning like an inferno. And you couldn't help but wonder if it was the same for Sans. You couldn't help but wish the moment wouldn't end. That you had the confidence to push things further. To actually hold his hand. To turn and ask him for some sort of straight answer.

The thoughts burned on the edge of your tongue, seared your heart and sent your mind reeling. But you couldn't ask. You didn't want to end the moment. You didn't want to ruin anything.. What if he didn't feel the same? What if he only saw you as a friend?

Those worries and fears froze your blood, calmed your heart. You couldn't face that kind of future. That kind of heartbreak. Not now. It would be so much worse than before. As you were now, you didn't think you'd recover.

So you swallowed back the questions and simply enjoyed the feel of his fingers against yours. You laughed at Papyrus' jokes. Talked about the concert with Mettaton. Happily listened to Undyne's tales of grandeur. But even though a smile sat on your face, your eyes sparkling with laughter, now you couldn't shake the dread nagging at the back of your mind. The kind of dread that spoke of bad things to come.

Author's note~

So what did you all think? After the last few chapters, I decided to throw a little fluff your way :3

I'm not too sure when the next few chapters will be out, but I can tell you they're going to be very exciting. As the intended climax, would you expect anything less? I sure wouldn't! There will be drama! There will be justice! There will be violence and a good dose of feels! And the answer to the questions that are no doubt burning in your minds... what has Mitchell been up too? When will (y/n) Heir and Sans finally get together? Stay tuned my lovely readers! For the next few chapters will answer all!

Thank you for waiting patiently!

Author... out!