Sans didn't feel comfortable telling her his name. Only a few people at the school knew of his last name and destiny, the Headmaster and Sans' sister. So, knowing his first name wouldn't be bad, unless word got out that the Evil King had a son named Sans. And he didn't want to take any chances. Not to mention, giving her his name could mean they were close, and he didn't want to give her the idea.

He should've never went to that concert that night. Then he wouldn't feel bad about being cold to her, about leading her on to believe that they could ever form a friendship. It sucked even more that she was a pretty cool person, he actually had really enjoyed talking to her in the library. There were few people he even talked to, and he loved books and analyzing them. Kitty didn't read enough, neither did his Mother.

Man he was lonely.

And man, did Alphys have a mansion.

It was as big as the school, looking more like a castle than a mansion. Of course, he expected nothing less from the most popular fairytale of all time. He always tried to avoid news of them as much as he could. He didn't hate her family, lord no, he just felt awkward seeing them on the news. Especially meeting her family. 'Hey, I'm the guy who's going to poison and try to kill your daughter because a magic mirror says she's prettier than me'. Not a great first impression.

"So, uh, w-we can go straight t-to my room," Alphys said when she stepped inside, one of their probably many servants closing the door behind them and taking her shoes.

"Sir, may I take your hoodie?" The servant asked.

"No!" Sans said sternly, pulling his hoodie closer to his body as he scooted away from the servant.

"H-He's a part of the Cheshire cat family, they like s-secrets, remember," Alphys said, "He probably j-just feels better with it. I-I don't mind it."

"Of course, my apologies sir," He said, "May I get anything for your new guest to eat or drink?"

Sans shook his head, the servant nodding and retreating down the hall. He took a breath of relief as Alphys walked down the hall towards where he presumed her room was, glad that situation was over quickly. But he still felt very uncomfortable, being in the house he never wanted to enter, stress quickly building in his soul. Sans felt surrounded, unable to escape if someone found out who he was. Skeletons were rare creatures only found related to the Evil King, if even his arm was revealed he would be in trouble.

His ability to take a shortcut him feel a little better. At least he had that escape.

Some of the servants stared at him as he walked by, which he found odd. They weren't staring at him from disgust, instead from surprise and even happiness. When he entered the room, however, Alphys explained as she set down her school bag onto a beanbag next to the door.

"I-I don't really i-invite people often over, this is a-actually the first time someone has come over with me willingly," Alphys explained.

"You're the most popular girl, ever, really." Sans was surprised. "Anyone would pay like a fortune just to hang out with you for a day."

"That's the problem," Alphys sighed, "T-They like my last name, not m-my personality..."

Sans watched her as she spoke, seeing the true light of Alphys White's personality. Toby Fox, he just wanted to become best friends with her already, he really liked her. Of course, not like romantically, since he was completely gay, but he really liked her personality and probably would become best friends with her. But, he really cared about her, so he had to keep his teeth shut and just push through the day. Maybe he could even set up Papyrus and Alphys for a friend date, who knows.

"Want to start the assignment?" Sans asked, gesturing towards the large TV on her wall.

"O-Oh, right!" Alphys said, "U-uh, make yourself at home, on my couch, I need to go do s-something."

She slammed her room door shut behind her, leaving Sans standing alone in the large room.

~~~~~~

"Please, p-please don't screw this up!"

Alphys was practically begging her servants, clasping her hands together. This was the first time she actually invited someone over, ever, since she often went to other people's houses because she didn't feel close enough with anyone to let them see her house. And she wasn't really proud of this, but she was trying to convince him to be her friend.

Even though they only talked for one night, it was the realest conversation she ever felt like she had. They both were honest and true, no lies, no fronts to hold up. But as soon as he found out her name, he didn't try to suck up to her in hopes of popularity, like she expected, but instead he ignored her. It was the complete opposite of the reaction she expected, that meant there might be some hope to having her first real friendship. He didn't care about her popularity, he was just afraid of her name. But her main goal was to at least find out why. She had panicked enough the night that he ran away from her, even creating a list of possibilities where she went wrong and how she could fix them.

"Of course not, Princess Alphys!" The female clapped her hands together. "Oh, I'm so excited for you having a friend come over! We can bring in food, even convince him to stay for dinner. We can guilt him into it and say it takes hours to make, so he feels bad and stays."

"W-Wait, no, I don't want t-to guilt him to stay!" Alphys said, "I just really want h-him to not be freaked out by my family name."

"Don't fret, Princess Alphys." The male rested a hand comfortingly on her shoulder. "I understand that you feel pressured and unable to make real friends with others, but you know we'll both be here for you. We will make sure nothing goes wrong and he enjoys his stay here."

The two servants standing in front of Alphys were her personal ones, a tall and skinny girl and a normal sized man. They both catered to her personal stuff, such as fitting dresses, taking her measurements, drawing baths, and more. She's grown close to them, not enough to call them her close friends, since she could tell they lied to her too, and they were only there for the money, but enough for her to be honest sometimes and to tell them what she wanted in a friend. She just wanted someone to be with her not because of her name or her parents paying them, she just wants them to like who she is and want to spend time with her because they enjoy her personality. Maybe like one or two of the books she did.

"Just, uh, bring in snacks a-and drinks, d-don't be weird," Alphys said, "Also, d-do try the thing for dinner."

"Sweet!" The girl pumped her fist. "Friendship forcing time!"

"Don't be w-weird!" Alphys said, "Just... b-bring in food... he's not big o-on social stuff either..."

"Aw, you two are going to be such great friends!" The girl giggled.

"I mean... w-we did get along i-in the library, but... he f-freaked out when he heard m-my name..." Alphys explained quietly.

"Then, we'll get him to look past the name, Princess Alphys," The man said, "It could just be a family issue, or a personal fear. He did seem afraid when he entered. As a Cheshire, I heard they prefer quiet and reclusive things. Being near a royal may cause him fear of attention. So just help him through it. He may be able to get over it."

"A-Alright then..." Alphys sighed, closing her eyes and pumping herself up. "I-I can do t-this!"

~~~~~~

The first half hour went by not very smoothly.

The guy had filled out his role name as 'Nope', so she wasn't able to figure out his name. Whenever she'd offer something, he'd just nod, and go with whatever she said, not really replying. She tried to make some conversation, but it didn't seem to work. She felt like giving up. He didn't want to be her friend.

It was pointless.

Sans noticed her quietness, looking over at her sad face as she blankly clicked on a few options to help a peasant feed her child.

"Sans."

Toby Fox, he was going to regret that later, wasn't he?

But they were in the same boat. Their destinies have made their lives more difficult. They weren't able to get true, real friends as easily. They constantly doubted themselves because of who they were meant to become, when they didn't feel like they wanted to even be that.

Alphys was nice. He had spent his last half an hour thinking, and decided he wasn't going to do this. She never needed to find out his last name, or his Father. Kitty would help him, she supported him.

Maybe this would be worth the risk.

"What?" Alphys asked, perking up at his voice.

"My name." He was louder. "It's Sans."

"O-Oh," She said, "Uh... thank you."

"I... want to apologize... for being a jerk," Sans said, "I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. It's just that... I'm not good with attention, and I don't like royalty that much."

"It's f-fine, but, if y-you don't mind me asking, aren't you royal?" Alphys asked, "How come you d-don't like royals?"

"Exactly for that reason," Sans didn't want to really get into it. "My Dad... isn't the best guy."

"I mean, a-at least h-he's not as bad as the Evil King?"

Sans almost choked from the irony, looking at her while pressing his teeth together. Oh no, he was just as bad as the Evil King, since he was the freaking Evil King.

"But he's up there. He left me at birth for his own ideas for his Kingdom rather than even taking care of his own son."

"Oh, I'm s-sorry to hear."

"But it wasn't fair of me to take it out on you. If you'd let me, I'd like to be your friend."

"Really?" Alphys looked the happiest Sans had ever saw her.

"I mean, it was... actually fun talking to you. And it is, right now. I'm not good with crowds, but if you'd let me be your friend for school, I wouldn't mind."

"Uh, y-yes! Um, w-we can be friends! Y-yeah!"

There was a squeal from outside the door, then a thud following it, the two turning towards the door as they heard footsteps stumble off. Alphys blushed from embarrassment, knowing of the two people it definitely was. Sans felt his soul beating from anxiety, knowing if word was leaked out of his name, he would be screwed.

But the main point of him hating his destiny was that he didn't want to hurt people.

So he wouldn't hurt Alphys through being cold.

"I think our Kingdom is going well so far," Sans said, "The people like us enough, and we're financially stable."

"Y-Yeah, we seem to be doing well," Alphys said, "We can maybe m-make another hospital, since there might be that v-virus spreading."

"It would boost our popularity," Sans agreed, "And I think we should sell our crowns."

"Why?" Alphys asked.

"Use the money for the hospital, that'd definitely get us a double boost. And the crown is really big on my head, I look like an egg head."

"What would humpty d-dumpty say to that?"

"He'd be all over having a crown."

"If he f-fell with a crown o-on, would i-it impale him or help his fall?"

"It'd make more sense if it just broke the shell, it'd probably get stuck in his shell or just shatter it more."

And just like that, they were talking smoothly with one another. It was as if they had been life long friends already, they talked so easily and free with one another. Sans didn't even realize that he had been there for two hours before they were done with their gaming session, the screen flashing they they had completed their homework for the day.

"Princess Alphys," A servant said, stepping inside, "Dinner is prepared. Will your friend be staying for dinner?"

"Uh, yeah, I can probably stay," Sans said, "I just have to shoot Kitty a quick text but other than that, I can probably stay."

"YES!" Alphys yelled.

Pausing after the Princess realized what she just said, Alphys blushed slightly from embarrassment when looking at Sans.

"I-I'm just really happy," Alphys said sheepishly.

"That's cool," Sans said.

~~~~~~

Dinner went better than Sans expected.

No one forced him to take off his hood, and they ended up just watching T.V in Alphys's room while eating the most expensive thing Sans had ever eaten. It was this really fancy chicken stuff, at least Sans thought it was chicken, he couldn't really tell. It practically melted in his mouth as soon as he tasted it. He he had three plates of it, the food was simply amazing.

And man, could he talk about the dessert for hours.

It was totally worth being friends with Alphys, if he got this type of food whenever he came over.

And so, Sans was waved goodbye before he appeared back into his house, a large, goofy grin plastered on his face.

He made a friend!

Kitty sprawled herself over a counter, chewing lightly on a piece of gum. "You look rather happy."

"I made a friend!" Sans said.

"Oh, did you now?" Kitty asked, "With Alphys White?"

"She doesn't know about the whole skeleton thing," Sans said, "Just that my name is Sans and that we both like books and jokes."

"Sans, are you sure this is a good idea? If you even drop a glove and she sees your hand, it's over." Kitty twirled a piece of her hair between her fingers, biting her bottom lip. "I don't want you to get hurt again."

"You think I don't want to either?" Sans took in a breath, pulling his hood. "I'm being careful. She only knows my name, no one's finding out about who I am."

"I can help out, we can maybe get some more hoodies for you?" Kitty asked.

"I have enough for now, I don't want to spend all of Mom's money on more hoodies," Sans said.

"Just... be careful, I care about you," Kitty said, "Please. Promise me you will."

"You know I don't like promises, Kitty."

"I know, but I want to make sure you're being safe. We can't hide away again if people find your identity."

"... Fine, I promise."