Papyrus stood above the basket, looking over at the pot, boiling away on the stove. Noodles, of course. Why wouldn't there be any? Spaghetti was his classic dish. It was a romantic one, known for coupling people together under simplistic implications. He liked making spaghetti.

At least, he did, until Undyne ruined it.

He wouldn't think about her. No, he couldn't. Everything he did, those same feelings from before surfaced. Each time they did, Papyrus would shove them down, ignoring the throb of pain he gathered.

Sans needed to be protected. The image flashed throughout his mind. Sans was laying on the ground in their kitchen again, that same spear sticking out of his chest. Dying. Because Papyrus didn't stop Undyne before. He should have listened, should have paid more attention.

But it was fine. Papyrus could protect him now! He wouldn't let Sans get hurt again, he was his brother. It was okay. Like Mom said, Papyrus could protect him. But what if it was too dangerous in the hospital? Papyrus didn't know those people. He'd have to take him home. But what if Frisk and Toriel tried to hurt him? They weren't his family. Papyrus could take Sans to their parents house! Yeah, yeah, that sounded good! He might be a little nervous, so Papyrus could help calm him down. Twist his brothers head, taste his mouth with locked teeth, show his undying love to him. Or let him eat something, to calm him! Of course!

Papyrus suddenly jolted back to reality as the container he was holding tipped right into the sauce, spilling out into the container below. Confused, he pulled back, looking at the pit of sauce. Toriel's night time medicine, to help Frisk fall asleep.

Oh Toby Fox, what was Papyrus doing?

His eye sockets widened with the horror of his situation, the container plummeting from his hands into the pasta sauce. Did he just try to drug Sans' spaghetti? What was wrong with him?

With that horror, he leaned forward, grasping his skull as it bubbled away below. That wasn't what his Mother meant at all? Why was he thinking this way? Skeleton's couldn't even be influenced by drugs, yet he attempted to knock Sans out to kidnap him from the hospital?

This was wrong. This wasn't what he was supposed to do. Papyrus was supposed to be the Great Papyrus, who was kind to everyone, who supported his brother! Not the horrific excuse for a skeleton that drugged people and wanted to force himself onto his brother.

Sans didn't want Papyrus. He pulled his hand away. There wasn't any romantic implications there. Yet here Papyrus was, foolishly believing there was.

This had to stop. Now. Papyrus had to place a stop to this trainwreck of thoughts before they dragged him down. Before they dragged down Sans. He shouldn't be in love with him. He shouldn't be thinking about hurting Undyne more, about Frisk being a threat. And he certainly shouldn't be attempting to drug his brother.

Sans didn't love him. And that was fine. Papyrus should never, ever even come close to doing this. Not ever. Was there something wrong with him? Did he interpret his parents wrong?

Sans was going to released in a few days anyway, he had plenty of healing magic, he was gong to be fine!

"Is everything alright?" Toriel asked, shuffling into the kitchen, phone in her hands.

He lightly shook his head. Everything was going wrong. He just lost a close friend, couldn't talk to another, his brother was in the hospital, and now apparently he was mentally deranged.

"No," He mumbled.

"I would expect as such. Everyone's been stressed lately, myself included. I apologize for that." Toriel rested a hand on his back, rubbing it soothingly. "I can offer advice, if you'd like any."

"Mom gave me some advice about protecting Sans, and I think I heard it wrong. Ever since then, my heads been going wild. I haven't even said Nyeh heh in a few days!" Papyrus gripped his head, scowling at the container still in the pasta. "And now I'm being over protective of Sans and not considering his feelings."

Toriel listened for a moment. After she conjured an idea, she added her thoughts on the situation. "You know your parents are excellent people, they mean well. Perhaps you're confused on their advice, or it doesn't make sense. I know you've always been a man of pacifism, but sometimes, as much as I would like to ignore it, violence is required. Your brother was hurt by someone we assumed to be a friend, of course we're all stressed and a little protective. I can't blame you or them for ever wanting to protect him after what happened. Sans is more vulnerable than others. If I were in your parents situation, I'd be going wild with guilt as well. And, to be honest... if Undyne was that unstable, she needed a firm punch to knock her senses back into gear. No one blames you for what you did, she was trying to do something very illogical that could have caused him to bleed out."

Even with that advice, it still felt off. His parents were smart, but he felt like what Jandle said was different. Somehow. He couldn't pinpoint it.

His head hurt.

~~~~~~

"Hey Dad," Papyrus said quietly, holding his hands in front of his chest. "Can I come in?"

"Sundrop, you are always welcome here." Gaster opened the door further. "Come on in."

Papyrus had only been there once before, when he picked up Sans, but didn't get a chance to see the scope of their house. Simply stepping inside dragged his mouth wide open. The outside was luxurious enough, but the inside simply topped that. A chandelier, coated in crystals and gems galore, hung above them. The staircase in front of them spiraled along the edge of the room, circling up to the second floor in perfect decoration. Their entire house could fit in the foyer alone.

"Sorry it's a bit messy, Jandle is covering a meeting for me, so I'm the only one who could do chores today." Looking behind him, Gaster scratched the side of his skull, trailing his cheekbone absentmindedly. "Usually we do them together or get help, but today obviously I'm alone."

"I can help! I love cleaning!" Papyrus offered.

"No, no, you didn't come all the way out here just to do chores, you sillybones." Gaster patted his back, encouraging his younger son further into the house. "Would you like any drinks? We have some carbonated water, since you mentioned you liked it. Orange flavored, correct?"

Papyrus grinned. "That'd be great Dad, thanks."

Gaster led him to the kitchen, his posture upfront and naturally eloquent. Papyrus couldn't help but watch his parents. Everything they did was filled with such confidence and grace that he couldn't help but be inspired. He'd like to be like them, one day.

"I must admit, I'm frankly... quite pleased you came to me for advice," Gaster said, pulling out a can of flavored water. "It feels like we're bonding, and we're closer than ever. I'm proud to call you my son, Sundrop. You and Sans both."

A can of orange flavored water was set in front of Papyrus, who accepted it with a thanks. He really did love his parents. He always thought them over inside of his head when he was younger, but he couldn't have imagined them to be like this. Rich, beautiful, perfect in everyway.

"I like calling you Dad as well, you guys are cool parents."

Gaster smiled gently. He wasn't overly emotional, not like his wife. But Papyrus started to see the little moments that really displayed Gaster's happiness. The way he would hold their shoulder or trail a hand amongst a cheekbone. Gaster was a more hands on type of man, and didn't outright say his feelings as much as others did.

"I'm glad to see you're doing better. Sans' attack shook you greatly," Gaster said. He held his own cup of coffee, looking gently over Papyrus. "But I can see something else is troubling you."

"It's about what Mom said, a few days ago." Papyrus took a breath. "She said some things that are bothering me, because I think I interpreted them wrong."

"Ah, yes, that. Jandle mentioned what she said. Papyrus, we only want what's best for you. You and Sans both. And you should feel proud that you defended your brother. It takes courage and love to do that."

"Oh, is that what she meant?" He blinked a few times. It was that simple? "I thought she meant that I should be happy for hurting Undyne."

Gaster paused, then chuckled. Papyrus flushed with embarrassment. He thought she spoke about being proud of hurting Undyne! Of course he was wrong, no wonder he's been going crazy! Gentle midday sun fluttered in through the window, twisting around the wide and expansive kitchen.

So why weren't the thoughts gone? Papyrus couldn't get rid of them, despite that relief. They only lessened, drawing backwards in his head, ready to strike again.

He had to get rid of these thoughts.

"Thanks Dad," Papyrus said. It was true, in a sense. He was thankful. But the thoughts still lingered. He wanted them gone, and now. He was afraid what might happen if he remained by Sans' side with them.

The skeleton pulled back from the counter, standing up. "Do you have to leave so soon?" Gaster asked, "You just got here. It'd be nice to bond with you a little more."

"I have to do something," Papyrus said, "Just to fix something."

~~~~~~

Undyne was obviously surprised for Papyrus to appear in her house. She trailed, back and forth, hair bouncing as she glanced at him.

"You really shouldn't be here," She said, pressing a hand against her forehead. "I might get arrested. Fucking hell, are you trying to get me screwed over?"

"We need to talk," Papyrus begged, "Please."

The fish monster, who was just previously pissed that her old friend was risking her arrest, stared at him in shock. No doubt the image Papyrus presented at that moment was unusual. His eye sockets were wide, with slight dark bags under them, and his hands were shaking. Something recently got into his head, and he wasn't coping well with it.

"Fine, talk," Undyne said, "What's wrong?"

"I tried to drug Sans." Papyrus was just brutally honest as he always was with her, spatting out the horrid truth he did before. "I just - I got really worried about him, and the next thing I knew, I was dumping all of the container into the pasta for Sans. And then I keep getting these weird thoughts, and - and -"

"Okay, okay, calm down there!" Undyne said, "Holy shit, ya got a lot of stuff. Let's go over one thing at a time. Why the fuck did you drug Sans?"

"I don't know!" Papyrus wanted to curl onto himself like a snail, mind in a constant battle with the new thoughts he hated. Everything was so confusing and new, and he hated it. "I keep thinking things that I've never thought about before! I want to just run away with Sans to a distant land, away from everyone, and just buy a cabin with him... even if he doesn't want to! I need help. I don't know what's happening anymore!"

"Papyrus, don't you see?" Undyne grinned wide, grasping at his shoulders. "This is your parents getting into your head just like they did me! They're the reason I accidently hurt Sans! And now they're tricking you!" She looked overjoyed at the evidence right in front of her. It wasn't just Undyne, they did their schemes on Papyrus.

"Stop blaming them!" Papyrus slapped away her hands, the thoughts brewing inside of his head, louder than before. "You're the one who hurt Sans because you summoned an attack weapon in our kitchen! You're just trying to pin your guilt onto them because, because -" After pausing his rant, he suddenly straightened, looking over at Undyne. "Because you've always been this way."

Undyne froze in place. "What?"

The skeleton threw his hands into the air in annoyance, grasping at his skull. "Mom was right, you were terrible! You always hated us, and wanted to hurt Sans! The accident was just a cover! I can't believe I've been so nice to you. I'm an idiot!"

The silence that followed was deafening.

"No, no, don't you see?" Undyne jabbed her hands frantically between them, motioning back and forth. "See what they did to me, what they're doing to you? They're inside your head, they got inside of my head! They've been tricking you every step of the way. They're going to kill you, or use you to get to Toriel and Asgore, or something!"

"But they care about us." Papyrus choked back tears, avoiding her gaze as he pulled at his fingers. "And I'm not doing or thinking these things because of them. They want me and Sans to get together, sure, but I don't think they'd like the thought of me forcing myself onto him."

Undyne looked horrified at what he just said. "What?"

"Sans. I like him. More than a brother should."

If one was to compare, Undyne looked absolutely like she had just been told he killed her girlfriend. Her face twisted back in realization, and her words were jumbled, unorganized.

This is why he never told her. She'd never understand.

But his parents did. They supported the brothers, no matter what. They were there for them.

Because they knew them. They were on their side. Undyne wasn't. She tried to kill Sans on purpose.

She was the reason he was hurt.

"P-Papyrus-"

He should hurt her back.

"Plea - guh -"

Make her pay for what she did.

Just like Mom and Dad would.

His hands grasped tighter, vision blurry and swimming in different colors. Darkness. His soul was consumed by the thoughts, unable to clear his head. He needed - he had to -

"Don't care what anyone else says," Sans said, turning towards his brother. "You're just as cool as they are. You don't have to listen to them."

Papyrus jerked his arms back from Undyne's neck, causing the suffocated female to grasp for breath. Her pale lips tilted back in an o shape, begging for the oxygen that had been cut off from Papyrus' slim fingers. The tips of his gloves had been pierced through by the jagged edges of his fingers, tainted with Undyne's blood. The moment he threw himself back from her body, she twisted onto her side, coughing brutally and curling onto her chest.

Papyrus, now crying, stared at his hands and Undyne, frozen in shock.

"I-I'm sorry," He choked, blinking away the tears. "I'm so sorry."

And just like that, he fled.