Once again, Sans' suspicion of the situation was promptly stomped upon when the first date actually went very well. Bill wasn't secretly a douchebag or anything, he seemed like he genuinely wanted to get to know Sans. They had ended up going to Papyrus' Diner (Sans had a feeling Papyrus met up in person with Bill one day to suggest the idea, he always kind of butted into Sans' love life) and ate waffles, talking about things. Bill didn't rant about himself like a bad date Sans had before. He did go off on a small tangent in his excitement, but that was more about Gravity Falls, then stopped when he realized he was talking for awhile and asked Sans about his own life.

The feeling of unease stayed, though.

Sans knew to always trust his gut feeling, despite his lack of a gut, but he didn't see any emotions from him but the bubbly feeling of new excitement. Was he seriously so on edge with happiness that the sheer thought of someone being interested set him into defensive mode? Seriously?

Bill didn't have any other motives than actually making Sans happy, which he found himself weirded out by. He wasn't trying to get something out of him, he was trying to simply make Sans have a good evening. Questions about what Sans liked, what he did in his free time, what he wanted more of occurred over their night. Papyrus stopped by at least every ten minutes, refilling their drinks that didn't need to be refilled, or adding bottles of ketchup to the table despite his disdain for Sans' diet. If Paps was willing to give Sans ketchup just for an excuse to be at their table, then he was definitely checking in on Bill to make sure he was a good guy.

"Yeah," Bill admitted later in the evening, "He visited me three times before this date. The first time was to suggest where to eat, the other two were to make sure I had your interests in mind."

Sans giggled. "No way, he did?"

"Three whole times!" Bill played with a chip on his plate, grin wide. "I feel like if I ever took you out on another date I'd have to get his blessing."

"You might. Sorry, Paps liking you is required if you intend to seduce me or anything. You have to pass the Papyrus test if you ever date me, it's a rule of mine. We're a package deal, both ways. Mettaton had to wait months just to become official because I didn't let him. Ya know, he's my only family. We're close, we watch out for each other. So if you wanna date one of us, you have to get the other to like you."

Bill looked confused. "Wait, do you mean I have to seduce Papyrus to date you? Because he's a nice guy, but I want to date you specifically."

"Oh, no no! Not at all!" Sans snorted at his confusion. "Paps is taken by Mettaton, I'm just saying he has to like you as a date for me. I don't blame him for being a little worried, either, this is kinda... my first real date?"

"You've never dated before?"

The skeleton sputtered on his words, embarrassed. "I mean, I have been on dates, but they were all one nighter situations. The kind where it's a date just as a safe measure to make sure I'm not making out with some crazy guy or whatever. They've never been... romantic. All of those had the implications of sex afterwards, this one is like a genuine date. First time with that type of date."

"I see. Good then! I'll make your first date strictly romantic and awe you with my charms!" Bill posed on his elbows, winking at Sans from the side.

"Oh my Toby Fox," Sans snorted, laughing into his hands to cover his blushing face.

It was surprising how much fun Sans had. They talked and laughed and ate, and Bill choked on a piece of celery for a moment because he thought you had to swallow it whole. He was stupid, in some ways, as if he never was a human before and was suddenly thrown into the body of one, but that's part of his charm. He had the same effect Papyrus had, where you couldn't help but love him because of how true he was with his beliefs. He didn't want some one nighter from Sans, he wanted a romantic connection.

Which was worrying. Sans could give sex. It was a one time thing, thus being named one nighter. He gave a date with a few jokes, made out, used some tongue, then it was over. They both had a good time, woke up, and pretended in never happened. There was no deal, no searching for an open pair of legs, just someone who wanted a pleasant, happy, bonding conversation with Sans. Which Sans was deeply unfamiliar with. Giving his body for a onetime shot at pleasure, no strings attached, was one thing.

Giving his heart and soul? That was something entirely different.

That night, he lay under his comforter, staring out at the wall with a blush that lingered despite his attempts to wash it away. His eye sockets softened when he went over their date for the millionth time, the skeleton gripping his pillow tighter.

"Oh man, I think... I actually kinda like him," Sans whispered, pressing his face against the pillow.

In the other bedroom of their shared house, Bill lay, arms crossed. A good start. He had to keep it up.

~~~~~~

Everyone heard about their new resident, as it was quite rare for someone to actually move to Gravity Falls. Most people were visitors. Bill was the first new person after the monsters found themselves stumbling out of the Underground, naturally everyone would get a little excited.

Bill asked about the Underground, found it pretty interesting. Sans told him about Snowdin, about his Dad who was a scientist, those sorts of things.

"You were a scientist?" Bill asked, leaning forward with interest.

"Nah, just an assistant. I quit before I could get promoted, I like science, but the accident at the core scared me off. I'm glad Alph' got the job, though. She's pretty talented."

Bill didn't comment on Alphys, or her abilities.

"Sorry, all of this Quantum Physics talk has to bore you, we can talk about something else," Sans said, waving away the subject.

"No, please don't, this is actually pretty interesting! I like to hear your sciency talk. Those things fly right over my ha - head, so I'd love to hear about them!" He tilted his chin up slightly, watching Sans drink his coffee.

Sans sat down across from him at their counter. "I feel like I talk about myself too much. You haven't told me anything about you."

Bill sputtered on his words, looking lost for a second. "That's because my life wasn't fun at all! It's boring compared to yours. And I like hearing you talk about your past, it's cute."

"Can you stop calling me cute. You are going to make me blush again."

"No, you're blush is adorable as well!"

"Agh!"

With that, Sans let his head fall against the counter. He couldn't do this. This was too much. It was as if Bill was trying to get Sans to fall head over heels for him, which he probably was, but still! Sans couldn't process that someone actually wanted to date him. Him. The short, punny skeleton that was known for never being in a committed relationship. But Bill had no reason to need to date him, which meant it was entirely because he wanted to, which threw off Sans even more. In the end, it came down to one conclusion Sans never found himself at before. Bill liked him. Bill actually really liked Sans, and Sans was starting to like him as well.

Papyrus was happy for him, but Sans tried to swat away Papyrus' buzzing anticipation for the possibility of a relationship. No, he had to think first. Get his thoughts cleared, which he couldn't do with Bill constantly making him blush and feel butterflies in his bones.

He had to... something. He had to do something. Run away?

Papyrus pointed out Sans' nervousness previously, wiping down cups in his diner as he looked at Sans. "You're scared because this is a committed relationship! Bill is being genuine and you've never experienced that before!"

"But it feels like... you know, he's trying to get me to fall in love with him!"

Papyrus' eye socket twitched. "Because that's what people do when they like someone. They try to get that someone to like them as well."

Sans had time to think over their conversation. Was he seriously so scared over a relationship he tried to search for some reason besides attraction that Bill was being so nice to him?

Maybe it was time to finally let himself try to be happy. To accept that he could be loved.

"Hey, I was going to go visit Alph' today, do you wanna come? I could show you some of the stuff she does." Sans glanced at his roommate.

"Sure! That sounds... get ready for this, Sansational!"

Ever since Sans showed Bill the ropes of puns, he quickly grew to love them. Now Papyrus had two forces to fear of pure pun power.

"It does, because I'm just Sanstastic!"

"Yeah you are."

Bill leaned forward, and snatched a kiss on Sans' mouth. It was quick, but it still sent a sudden burst of excitement throughout his body.

"Let's uh... let's go..." Sans muttered quietly, pointing towards the door.

~~~~~~

"I mean - fuck, look at him!" Sans banged his fist against his forehead repeatedly, face as blue as his hoodie. "Fuck Alph', he's breaking me! And I live with him, so I can't escape the constant compliments!"

Alphys snorted, scooping up noodles from her ramen and shoving them into her mouth. Bill and Mabel were hanging out behind Sans, but it mostly consisted of Mabel drooling over him as he helped move some equipment.

"If I wasn't hella gay, I'd go for him. I see what you mean." Alphys made a show of fanning herself. "He and Undyne should do a shirtless weight lifting contest. I'd watch that on loop."

"Don't remind me that he's hot!" Sans lightly smacked her wrist. "It's already bad enough I live with him, and I know we're kinda going out now, but it's only been a few weeks and I'm falling bad for him. You have to help me."

"Help you with what, though? He's hot, he's rich, and he's into you. Papyrus likes him, I think he's cool, and there is that possibility of him being your soulmate. Who has a dream like that? Seriously?"

"Haven't there been dream demons before in Gravity Falls? Ya know, the one those two guys warned us about before they left?" Sans didn't notice how Bill paused in the background. "I dunno, it just feels weird I'd suddenly get a dream about a soulmate, and he also gets it. Isn't that suspicious with Gravity Falls past?"

Alphys hummed thoughtfully. "I mean, I guess. But look at everything else. He was practically made for you. Literally, he's perfect for you and everything you're attracted you. You have a god of a man that's as gay as you and is into you. He also had the dream despite being out of Gravity Falls, remember? If you had a weird dream about a demon or something harmful, sure, we should be concerned, but didn't they defeat the demon? And it was a good dream. I think you're just scared of being used."

Darn it. She was right. She knew him too well.

"Maybe," Sans said, "But are you sure. Like, for real? I could possibly think about having a real... boyfriend?"

"Dude, go for it. This is my OTP now."