So many mistakes, Papyrus regretted so many of his actions.

It had started on the surface. After the barrier was destroyed once and for all, he thought the surface was going to be a fresh start for everyone. It was supposed to be amazing!

That is, until he screwed up.

Over the couple of months that passed after the large event, he was constantly busy. After all, he was finally achieving his dreams! That required a lot of work from the Great Papyrus.

But maybe the Great Papyrus wasn't so great without his brother.

He will fully admit now that he missed his dear brother. However, before, he didn't want to admit he missed the puns and lazy attitude. It was hard to, after all, since he had spent years telling Sans he did not enjoy them, so he didn't want to give in. Papyrus didn't like admitting defeat.

That was a mistake on his part.

Over the years, he had noticed Sans was a bit of an introvert. Papyrus had to drag him out of the house to meet his friends, and he was happy when Sans had made great friends with Alphys. Since the yellow lizard had worked at his same job, just on the other side, he assumed they talked often, so he threw himself into his life. It was Toriel who forced everyone to gather at her house to help get them out of work.

She, too, made just as many mistakes.

Toriel didn't send Sans a text to come over. She had intended to, of course, but she got distracted by grading papers at her school, so distracted that she never sent the text. And she forgot about the skeleton, until Papyrus had mentioned that his brother wasn't there. Toriel, embarrassed by her mistake, lied and said Sans was too busy and that he couldn't come.

Of course, Toriel later regretted it. They all did. Sans was never too busy for family, even when Papyrus was younger, Sans would set aside everything for him. That's why Papyrus decided to not call Sans, his brother was finally getting a life away from constantly taking care of his brother, he must have been ecstatic to be free from him! And Papyrus felt as if he might have forced the other friendships onto his dear brother as well, so he didn't do anything when Alphys and Undyne mentioned they don't talk to him much either. Sans was just living his own life was all.

Sans called, sometimes claiming it was a buttdial, other times saying he wanted to talk to Papyrus. But Papyrus always felt like he might be intruding on Sans who could have been busy, or that Papyrus was often busy himself when Sans called, so he told Sans they would talk later every call.

But "later" never came.

Undyne then proposed to Alphys, and everyone was so happy for them they had just forgotten that a certain friend wasn't there. Papyrus wanted to call his brother, but decided he would the next day, as it was growing rather late. The call never happened, since as soon as he was awake, Undyne called him to ask if he would be her best man, and he was so caught off guard his brother slipped from his mind. And so, his brother stayed off his mind until he found the Fluffy Bunny book in a box, remaining unpacked. Papyrus unpacked that box and ended up leaving it on the floor, as he had more work to do.

It was at the mall when he realized his mistakes. He just assumed Sans knew, so it had confused him when the skeleton ran off crying. Then, on the phone with his friend, Papyrus didn't want to admit it, but...

He was kind of jealous.

This teenage boy had a better relationship with Sans than Papyrus did. Papyrus, Sans' own brother! He had made mistakes, and that's why he made sure to remind Toriel to go ask Sans to join them for dinner.

Seeing Sans show up for the first time made Papyrus so happy! They could reconnect, Papyrus had so many stories to tell him! He even set up an extra bed in his room so Sans could stay the night, and they could remember the good old days and catch up with one another! Sans could even read him Fluffy Bunny, just like old times! Alphys had even told Papyrus that she wanted to make Sans her best man, since they had been friends for years, and it was only right.

But, the dinner didn't go as planned. It was just the way Sans had talked about the teen, and the way he looked so happy talking about him, it made Papyrus worried. After what Toriel had said, Papyrus caught onto what they were saying, and that made him scared. Was Sans that lonely that he went to a teenager for relief? Papyrus knew Sans swayed towards guys more than girls, but he didn't want to believe it. Yet, Papyrus stupidly agreed with the others and supported them, even telling his own brother that he needed help.

It wasn't supposed to go that way.

That's why Papyrus chased him to the door, wanting nothing more than to scoop his shorter brother into his arms and beg for his forgiveness, to sit him down and tell him of course Sans wouldn't date a 16 year old teenager. But he didn't get the chance, he hesitated, and that's all it took for Sans to leave.

He was stupid.

So, so stupid.

They had all been, and they didn't want to be anymore. They tried calling him, he didn't answer. He never opened his door, Papyrus had come to his house four times in one day in hopes he would answer, but he never did. The tall skeleton even stood outside for a whole hour in hopes maybe Sans would come out, he needed to apologize, to tell Sans he was absolutely right in every way and that the Great Papyrus was never Great.

That's when Papyrus started hating the surface. It was a trap, forcing people away from one another. He wanted to go back underground with Sans, to when times were simple, and when he wasn't such an idiot. When Papyrus knew his brother, and showed how much he loved him by wearing the clothes he made him everyday.

So, Papyrus went to Grillby, telling the fire elemental all of his mistakes and how he so desperately wanted to fix them. Grillby agreed to help, and Papyrus was so happy.

Then the wedding happened.

They had been so focused on trying to apologize to Sans, while also working on the wedding, that they had forgotten to invite him! It was too late by the time they realized, it was the day of the wedding. Alphys had actually ended up crying from regret, Papyrus not far behind her. But the wedding went on, and Sans never came, as expected.

Later, Grillby texted him, telling that Sans was at his restaurant! Undyne was at his house at the time, so the two quickly jumped into a car and drove there, ready to apologize for everything. They even were going to tell him that they wanted a redo wedding, that they were going to get a divorce and get re-married just so he could be there. Both Alphys and Undyne agreed, they were willing to do it.

But then, there was Sally.

Once again, nothing went as planned. Papyrus was so caught off guard by the little girl that he didn't mention his hopes pf reconnecting as brothers, and Undyne forgot to mention the wedding.

It was supposed to come from her, but it didn't, it was the little girl that pointed out the rings on Undyne's fingers. And then Sans cried, right there, and Papyrus almost cried on the spot as well. He wanted to hug him, tell him how stupid he had been, but he didn't move, instead he just avoided his brothers gaze.

And when Sally had declared that Sans was her brother, and not Papyrus', he started tearing up on the spot. The girl was right, he wasn't fit to be Sans' brother.

But when you care about someone, you're willing to fight for them.

Toriel had said they should try to go to the carnival, to get their minds off of work and to relax. They had all been stressing so much about Sans and that he wasn't replying, that Papyrus had trouble sleeping, they all did.

That's when he saw the same kid from before, and he was hopeful. He didn't want Sans to forgive him, Papyrus didn't deserve it. He called his own brother, his own bones and blood, a pedophile, he didn't deserve forgiveness. Jeff simply drilled that idea in, and Papyrus couldn't blame him. But he hadn't seen Sans in ages, Sans didn't post on any of his social medias either, he wanted to make sure his brother was doing okay.

Then Alphys came back one day from work, and told Papyrus what happened. His beloved brother, the one Papyrus was so worried about, was hurting himself! He was causing cuts on his own arm, because of Papyrus.

Papyrus got no sleep that night.

They all agreed that if they couldn't give Sans any help, they wanted to get someone who could. So, Papyrus called the reception of a hospital, and told them the whole story. Every interaction with Sans he had told them.

His final mistake.

They had called him and told him that Sans was now in their custody, and that Papyrus could see him tomorrow. They failed to mention that Sans was classified as insane and as a pedofile, and that Papyrus didn't tell them the whole story. But they did mention that Sans had kidnapped the Sally child, and when they investigated his house, they couldn't find her.

Papyrus refused to believe that Sans simply kidnapped her, he didn't want to. He was going to wait for Sans to walk in, and tell him no matter what, Sans wasn't a kidnapper. That Papyrus would stick to his side until the end.

He looked so angry when he had walked in, and Papyrus grew worried. Maybe putting him there wasn't the best idea, because he had never saw such an angry and done face on Sans before. If he was going to snap, it would be soon. It was a mistake, admitting Sans in, and when Papyrus learned what they had told Sans, he was shocked.

He needed to get Sans out as soon as possible. He was wrong, so wrong about his brother, and so stupid. When Sans called him stupid, he deserved it. Papyrus made so many mistakes, but he wouldn't make any more. Even if he had to break a law, he was going to help his brother out of this situation.

And finally, the box had been brought out.

Everything just went wild after that. The clown hugged his brother, even called him a nickname! Who was this guy? Was he hurting Sans? How did Sans know him, how did he appear there?

Then Sans told the guy the 'no killing' rule was over, and Papyrus felt dread set in. His brother had been protecting him all this time, forcing this clown to abide by a rule he had set and not kill them. And now, that rule was gone, and Frisk was hurt.

The look on Sans' face said everything, as he stared at Papyrus right before the two of them disappeared. Sans was done with him. Papyrus couldn't help but agree with his decision of wanting to hurt them, Papyrus had done so many bad things to his brother, he deserved this fate. He was never the Great Papyrus, he never would be.

Great people don't do that to their brothers.

After that incident, they had to take Frisk to a hospital. They were sick, whatever the clown had fed them was poisonous, and they had almost died. Papyrus drove home in silence, guilt and regret gathering in his soul as he went over all of his mistakes.

He just wanted to see Sans smile again.

That night, Papyrus was walking to his bed before his foot bumped into something, before he looked down at the object of his childhood.

Fluffy Bunny.

"Heya, Paps, I found this book in the dump, I think it'll be a great bedtime story today!"

And Papyrus cried, right there, crouching down as he clutched the book against his chest.

He was such an idiot.

《》《》《》

Oh yeah, I'm starting off strong!

Make sure to read the credit if you skipped it, or at least skim it at the least. And you guys should always try reading the A/N's at the bottom of each chapter, since it's important that you do. Sometimes I include important stuff, other times I'll answer questions that you may have like if there is going to be a sequel or anything, other times I'll ask you guys something. So yeah, take a quick glance down here when you can, that'd be very helpful!

But anyway, here's the first chapter! This is going to be very interesting indeed! And I found a song that really goes with the story, and I even took the title from this song 'Shadows of Remorse'. I actually listened to it while I wrote this, since I like to listen to songs related to what I'm writing.

https://youtu.be/7yRt6H_yX-A