Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

You were in hell,ever since your sister left to “branch off on her own” Mother has blamed you for Grace leaving. Saying you were the reason her precious daughter started pushing her away. That woman didn’t show any mercy on you,you had the bruises to prove it. This time you didn’t have Grace to protect you.

After graduating high school you were more hopeful for the future,you had gotten a scholarship for a college far enough away from mother,but mother was less than supportive about your decision to move away. She locked you away in your room once summer vacation started,barely feeding you so you lost some weight. You were crouching in the corner of your room,your hair in your face. The only sound in the room was your light breathing.

A creak of the door opening interrupted the silence.

You knew who it was by the loud clicking of her heels. You looked up seeing her tower over you in those tall stiletto heels. “Hello mother” you greeted her monotonously. She huffed and knelt down,getting in your face as she harshly grasped onto your chin.

“Don’t be like that Darling,It’s not my fault your still hanging onto your delusions” she sighed “your forced my hand,if you move away to that city everyone there will only support these silly delusions and brainwash further into thinking your a boy” she huffed “I don’t know why you’d think your a boy,your just gonna ruin your body sweetie you know your growing into a fine young lady” she trailed off as her other hand lingered over your chest.

You choked down your tears.
Maria had worked a long time at the manor you had lived in and hated the way you’ve been treated by those two witches. You're just a child!. She felt bad that she couldn’t do anything about it,this was the only decent paying job that accepted her and she has kids to feed. She held the urge to beat that woman's face every time she saw her.

She held her tongue when you got locked in your room.

However tonight was the last straw,she had been tasked with the job of feeding you once a week. She held a tray with a big bowl of stew with some vitamins and water. The woman of the house walked out of your room looking satisfied,something felt off. She didn’t know what but there was this unsettling feeling in her stomach. She slowly walked into the room and dropped the tray in shock.

That witch!

You lay there on the floor,naked as the day you were born. Bruises all over your chest,there was a handprint on your hips no doubt your mothers hands. She ran over and grasped your hand,it felt clammy and your pulse was going really fast. She said your name and lightly shook you but you were unresponsive. Your pupils were enlarged and your eyes had a glassy look to them.

It was all that woman's fault.

Maria’s tailed swish back and forth swiftly and she bit down her rage to focus on what to do next. She had enough,she couldn’t just stand by anymore and let this keep happening!. She used a blanket she found on an exercise mat. (is that what you slept on?) she bundled you up and picked you up,she was caught off guard with how little you weighed. She should have done something sooner.

She walked out of that manor and never looked back.

She felt guilty and worried every time you flinched when she touched you,she knows you barely sleep because of the nightmares. You had admitted that this didn’t feel real that you sometimes thought you’d wake up and be back in that dark and empty bedroom.

But after a few weeks things were starting to look up!,you were eating more and slowly gaining some weight. Not much but it was a start,you seemed so happy when you were around the litter you were so great with them and loved playing with them. Sure everything isn’t gonna be all better after everything that happened but you were persevering through the nightmares. She just hopes that one day you get to be a happy kid without any worries like you should have had in the first place.

This feeling of warmth was foreign to you,you woke up expecting to feel the coldness of your draft room and the hardness of the tile floor but you had felt none of that when you woke up that morning. You opened your eyes and saw the 3 kittens who were snuggled up against you,Marias children. You weren't at that manor anymore,you remembered, still in denial for a second. You were in Marias home,you were on a nice warm bed with a thick blanket and a trio of cute kittens.

You let out a silent sob.

You didn’t deserve this family's kindness at all,all you’ve ever done was ruin things for everyone around you. If you hadn’t been born none of this would have happened,Grace wouldn't have wasted her childhood and teen years trying to protect her from mothers wrath. It hurt that she left but you understood that she had to do what she did. She didn’t deserve having to keep taking care of a nuisance like you anyways.

You flinched at the feeling of your face being touched,you stared into the worried eyes of Dahlia Marias eldest daughter. You felt the softness of her paws as she wiped away your tears,you could see and hear the way her tail swished in worry as she reached into her pocket for something. You heard the crinkling of the candy wrapper as she unwrapped it and held it to your mouth. Once you bit into the candy you felt yourself relax at the soothing intent from the person who had made this,wrapping around you like a warm hug. You felt yourself becoming more aware and safe.

It was nearing the end of summer and you were much livelier than when you had first arrived that night all those weeks ago. It was your birthday,you were turning 18!. You were now officially an adult but you were still so young,you were moving away soon to go to college. She knew that she couldn’t afford housing and that you couldn't stay in the dorms. She knew who lived in the area and as much as she didn’t want you living there at least you weren't gonna be with that evil woman anymore. She didn’t want to worry about that right now,right now she just wants to watch you open your presents and eat your cake.

Maria watched as you got on the bus,she was going to miss you but knew that you had a good future ahead of you. She knew that Grace would be good for you,she was the lesser of two evils but that still doesn’t make it right. She had grown to love you like one of her own,she just hoped that the next time she saw you that it would be a positive reunion.

You got off the bus with a grin,you were going to see your sister again!

Chapter Text

This place wasn't like you'd thought it would be,you thought that I'd be a smaller place since mother cut Grace off for moving away. But this house is more like a small mansion, it's so huge yet somehow has a cozy vibe.

Gripping on the handles of your backpack, you cooled your nerves before walking along the path to the front door. You waited a second before ringing the doorbell.

With each loud footstep the more nervous you got,you gulped fearfully when the door was slammed open. “YOU MONGREL!,I THOUGHT I ALREADY TOLD YOU WE DON’T WANT ANY GIRL SCOUT COOKIES” You got a look at the man made of bones,he was tall and towered over you in a terrifying way. His arms and face littered with scars that he no doubt gotten from numerous battles as a warrior.(at least going by the little info you received from your sister). This man was dangerous,looks like you're gonna have to keep your eye out from here on out. (at least according to your sister).

“Um hello sir?” you stand up straighter “I’m not actually with the girl scouts I’m here about the living situation?” you said wondering if you might’ve gotten the wrong house. But the description of the man in front of you was far too accurate to be wrong. “Didn’t my sister tell you?”

His face immediately turns from neutral to disgust “OH YES,I SEE YOUR GRACE’S……..SISTER” he said with a disgusted shudder. You tilted your head confused, did he not like you because you were transgender? He did seem hesitant on the last part of that sentence. “COME IN DON’T CAUSE ANY DRAMA YOU CRETIN” with a raised brow you watch as he steps aside to let you in.

“Okay?.......freakin weirdo”
The rest of the place seemed different from the entryway,it was cold and open. Almost everything was black and white,frankly it reminded you of your mothers place. You see another skeleton who holds quite the resemblance to the scary one but he seemed nicer,he looked afraid. Downright terrified.

But why was that look directed towards you?

“D/N!” you hear a happy squeal before you are suddenly in the tight embrace of your older sister “I’m so glad you're here,we have so much to catch up on!” You felt your heart race after the sudden and unexpected hug,fortunately she let go before you could panic too much. “I simply have to show you your new room,you are going to love it” she dragged you by the hand to your ‘new room’. It was also big but your sister seemed to think it was small,you were definitely gonna redecorate it when given the chance.

“I’m so glad your okay with me having all these boyfriends I wasn’t sure how you were going to react” she said watching you unpack,”I was for sure certain you were gonna react horribly to the fact that I;m dating up to 8 people not to mention monsters I thought you’d tell me to dump them immediently”

“Well the whole dating 8 people threw me off guard for a bit,but I don’t care that they're monsters.” you shrug “most monsters i’ve met are much nicer than any human I’ve ever met” you explained with a small smile.

“Yeah I guess they are”

It was late at night when Coffee got up for some tea,he quietly tiptoed downstairs and into the kitchen. He jumped in fright when he heard a loud clang,he turned to the source of the sound and spotted you who had a similar expression of fright. “Sorry’ you said in basically a whisper.

He fished his notepad out of his pocket and started writing. It’s okay

The human wasn’t anything like Grace had described,you weren't fiery or terrifying at all,you were so tiny and terrified. Want some tea?

Your eyes lit up as you let out a small smile.”sure that would be lovely” you sat down at the counter and watched as he prepared the tea,it smelled so relaxing. Hopefully it could get you to sleep. You weren't used to the new place and couldn’t sleep at all. You wondered what your life would be like here,you missed Maria and the kittens but this was a good opportunity,you're going to college and getting a job soon! Things were finally looking up.

A cup and small plate was set down in front of you,a cup of hot tea with some cookies. "Thank you" you mumbled quietly but he seemed to have heard you. You sipped on the tea in silence, occasionally talking to the shy man. You usually weren't used to meeting new people all that much,you could tell the skeleton felt the same way. But you didn't feel nervous around this one.

You felt so warm.

He watched as you sipped on the tea,you seemed to be enjoying it immensely. You weren't accurate to the description he was given at all. He jolted when you suddenly slumped sideways and quickly caught you from falling.

You had fallen asleep.

He picked you up and teleported upstairs,he looked at each door before finally reaching the one with a sign that had the word mongrel on it. This seemed to be the place. The room seemed to be impersonal so far,which makes sense since you only just moved in. You'd probably have some knick knacks in here in no time once you got settled in.

He got you tucked in and quickly left the room.

Meanwhile at the Hammond residence.

"I don't care how long it takes,I want you to find my daughter and execute that filthy monster who dared kidnap my little girl!" Your mother shouted into the phone and hung up with a slam of the phone. She breathed heavily as she looked at the map.

"She can't have gone too far"

Chapter Text

No one spoke.

The only sound in the room was your fork hitting the plate. The noise that filled the room earlier, the arguments over who cooked the best, who didn’t season their food enough, who overcooked the pasta.

Gone.

Everyone filled up their plates, many people even got seconds. Yet here you were not even half of your food gone from your plate.

You pushed a piece of roasted potato across the plate with your fork, occasionally forcing your fork up to your lips and choking down a piece of food, even if it made your stomach churn.

You were hungry though, the pain in your stomach was too much to ignore. It’s not liked the good was gross, goodness this was one of the best meals you’ve smelt.

Yet for some reason you couldn’t eat.

You felt eyes on you and glanced up from your plate/ Grace was staring at you with a smile. “Hey, Hun what's bugging you?”

You let out a breath. “I just can’t bring myself to eat”

She sighed “I see” she scooted her chair closer to you. “What mom did was terrible, anyone can see that…. But you need to move on”

You smiled though it didn’t quite reach your eyes and managed to take another bite. Chewing slowly. Your jaw ached from how tense you were.

She gave you another concerned glance “hmm it’s just…….” she let out a bitter laugh, glancing at your full plate. “There are so many people who would kill for a plate like this. So many who go hungry everyday….”

You swallowed hard. That old familiar shame tightened around your chest like a rope.

She leaned forward

“Now I’m not forcing you to finish your food, but I will be very disappointed if you wanted the food that several of my loved ones here made” she gestured to Blue, Edge, and Papyrus who were all calmed down from their heated discussion and now having a nice conversation over battle regime (they were still having disagreements)

She looked disheartened.

You shoved the uneasy feeling down and forcefully crammed your food down your throat.

You quickly excused yourself.

The kitchen felt quit, almost to quit. The silence was thick and heavy, almost suffocating you. The light above you flickered, casting long shadows. It was well past midnight and everything felt wrong.

You were so hungry, your stomach aches, the pain gnawing at you from the inside. You were starving, you could feel the emptiness from within. The way your body craved something- anything- but for some reason, you couldn’t bring yourself to eat.

You still tasted the vomit in your mouth from earlier. After forcing yourself to eat at dinner, you ended up puking it all back up the moment you got back to your room. The sickly bitter taste clung to your tongue. Mixing with the emptiness of your stomach. It was like your body didn’t know how to handle food anymore, no matter how badly it needed it.

Grace's voice echoed in your mind. “People would kill to eat right now”

The words twisted in your guts, making the hunger worse. All you could think of was how badly you didn’t want to disappoint her. You didn’t want to waste food. The guilt had overwhelmed you and you couldn’t stop thinking about it.

But now alone in the kitchen, the hunger haunting your stomach, and yet……. Food was the last thing you wanted.

The soft creak of wood disturbed the silence; you didn’t even need to look to know who it was. Coffee. He appeared in the kitchen notepad in hand.

“You puked”

You groaned and sat down on a stool feeling pretty embarrassed. “Yeah, that was me”
You braced yourself for the questioning about to come. But it never did. Coffee simply reached into the cabinet that only the tall ones in the house could reach.

“Tea?” he wrote out.

“Sure” you yawned, the adrenaline from tonight starting to fade.

You watched as he got to work, his movements fluid and calm. He didn’t ask questions. He set the notepad down and reached for a kettle.

The soft clinking of the dishes was almost soothing, and when he came back to you, he placed the tea in front of you with an unspoken offer.

He handed the warm mug than gestured to the biscuits.

“I made golden flower tea” he wrote showing you the notepad “and biscuits”

There was no pressure in his unspoken request.

You took a deep breath and after a moment released it. You lifted the mug up to your lips and took a sip.

You found it to be quite nice. The warm tea slid down your throat, causing the tightness in your chest even though the taste of vomit clung to your tongue.

You set the mug down and reached for one of the biscuits, breaking it in half before bringing it to your mouth. The texture was soft, crumbly and for once you didn’t feel like you were going to empty your insides.

For the first time in hours eating didn’t feel like a punishment. You didn’t feel like you were doing anything wrong, like you were being judged. It was just food. Just tea, just biscuits. Nothing more

Coffee didn’t speak- he couldn’t- but he didn’t need to. He just stood beside you, his presence steady, as if saying: I’m here. I’ll stay.

You chewed slowly, letting the taste settle.

It wasn’t much. But it was enough for now.

Chapter Text

"Yes, I will marry you, Prince Charming!" giggled a young girl, twirling in front of a mirror. She wore glass heels that were far too big, her clumsy hairdo clearly styled by her own small hands. A blue dress draped awkwardly off her tiny frame.

"Take me away from the wicked stepmother!" she cried, posing dramatically.

"Jane!"

Startled, the girl toppled off the stack of books she had used to see herself in the mirror. One of the heels shattered on impact, glass splintering across the hardwood floor. A sharp cry escaped her lips as shards embedded in her foot. Blood quickly smeared across the hem of her dress.

She burst into tears.

In the doorway stood a teenage girl, her expression caught between annoyance and concern.

"Mother!" she called out. "Jane cut herself on some glass!"

Immediately, the sharp click of high heels echoed down the hall.

"Grace? What's going on here?" an elegant woman snapped as she entered the room.

Grace nervously wrung her fingers. "Well, it seems like Jane wanted to play dress-up. I was coming up to change into my uniform when I found her here... in my room."

"And with your Sweet 16 outfit, no less." The woman knelt in front of the crying child. "That must’ve been quite the tumble, sweetheart."

"It hurts, Mommy..." Jane whimpered, her foot bleeding, shards of glass buried deep.

THUNK.
The woman struck Jane hard across the face.

"Good!" she barked. "Do you know how expensive it was to recreate Cinderella's glass slippers?"

Another blow — this time a kick to the stomach.

"This was supposed to be my angel's big moment to feel like a princess — and you ruined it! Just like you ruin everything!"

She stomped on Jane’s tiny hand, her heel grinding down until something cracked beneath the pressure.

"I'm sorry, Mommy..."

Chapter Text

You run

Branches hitting you in the face as you ran through a bush. You couldn’t stop running, you couldn’t let her catch you.

“Stop running from me Jane!”

You heard your mothers voice getting closer. Thorn deeply stabbed into your feet leaving a trail of blood behind you making you easily trackable.

Determined to get away you sped up, your next step meeting nothing but air.

You didn’t even scream as you fell to your doom.

You jumped up from bed, looking around. Oh, you were still in your room at your sister's place, that felt so real.

Too real.

You glanced at the window, the sun hadn’t even come up yet, but you should be getting ready. You opened the dresser and grabbed a random pair of clothes and grabbed your shower caddy and made your way to the bedroom door.

knock knock

“Oh y/n~ good morning~’ Grace sings from the other side “I just wanted to know if you wanted to join us for a morning run?”

You open the door, you see your sister on the other side wearing a sporty outfit. You see Blue, Papyrus, Edge and Black Behind her getting ready. Black and Edge putting on weights while Papyrus and blue wore sweatbands.

Can skeletons even sweat?

Grace waved her hand in front of her face “Hello? Earth to y/n!” you shook yourself out of your thoughts

“Sorry, what did you ask?”

She huffed, playfully rolling her eyes. “I asked if you wanted to go on a run with us” you glanced behind her seeing Edge and black glaring at you and silently threatening you.

“Uhm no thanks” you politely declined “I have to get ready maybe next time”

She looked saddened at first but then perked up “ok! I'll hold you to it” she smirked and walked away with her entourage. With her back turned, Edge and Black did that “I got my eyes on you” gesture.

You rolled your eyes at that.

After they left you made your way to the bathroom. You twisted the knobs adjusting it to fit your liking and sat on the toilet looking through the ads on the paper as you waited for the water to warm up.

You look at the help wanted ads and circle what you thought fit your skill set. You set the paper down and got up when the steam fogged up your reading glasses.

You got undressed and stepped into the shower.
Once you got dressed, you headed to the kitchen to make yourself some cereal. You reached into the cabinet and pulled out the box. Grace said she found it on sale when she was at the store. You grabbed the right measuring cup from the drawer and poured your cereal into it. Same with the milk. Once you put everything into a bowl you grabbed a spoon and sat at the table.

You never thought this would where you would be a few months ago. Everything still felt so surreal. You thought you were going to be stuck in that house with your mom forever. You shoveled the cereal into your mouth.

And promptly spat it out

With a sigh, you got up and opened the fridge to look at the milk, it was expired. This is what happens when most of here people in the house don't eat normal food.

You put the milk back in the fridge, you would deal with that later for now you had a busy day ahead of you.

You closed the fridge and made your way to the front of the house, grabbing your back off the rack and slipping into your shoes and rushing outside.

Time to find a job!

Rejected! All of them rejected you. All because you had no experience. You leaned against the wall outside the store and slid down, face pressed into your knees. While they didn’t outright state you didn’t get the job the way they looked at you made it obvious
.

“Watch out!” you heard a lady shout. “Steer your body left, damn it frisk!” You look up and see a teenager around your age speeding towards you on rollerblades, they looked panicked for some reason.

Suddenly their body collides into you.

Your head spun when their knee pad slammed into your forehead with so much force. That hurt so much! The teen scrambled to get out of your lap only to lose balance on their skates and fall back into your lap. They tilt their head up and grinned at you with a goofy apologetic smile.

You see two women running up to you. A yellow lizard lady with a lab coat and a tall blue lady with bright red hair, you couldn't make out many details since your head was feeling fuzzy. The tall one lifts the teen off of you and dangles them in the air.

“Sorry about the squirt,” the tall, blue-skinned woman said as she jogged up and casually grabbed Frisk by the hood, lifting them like they weighed nothing. Frisk flailed in the air, cheeks burning, then wobbled back down onto their skates.
They quickly pulled out a small notebook from their hoodie pocket and scribbled something. Then they turned it toward you:
“I’m so sorry”
You blinked, still dizzy, your hand pressed to the sore spot where their knee pad had hit your forehead. “It’s fine,” you said, even though your head was still spinning.
Another figure came running up behind the tall woman — a short lizard-like monster wearing a lab coat and thick glasses that fogged at the edges. “Oh no, Frisk! Are you okay? Wait—you’re okay, right?” she asked, glancing between the two of you, clearly flustered.
Frisk gave her a look that said enough already and tried to back away. Only to trip over their own skates again.
For the third time that day, Frisk fell on you. Their elbow bumped your side, their knee slid across your lap. They looked up slowly, eyes wide with horror.
You stared at them. “…Seriously?”
The tall woman — now that you noticed, she had sharp teeth and bright crimson hair pulled back into a ponytail — sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. “This is kind of their thing,” she muttered.
Frisk covered their face with both sleeves in defeat.
They signed something quickly, then scribbled again before holding up the notebook:
“That’s three collisions, I’m retiring”
You laughed, despite the ache in your head. “You keep a scoreboard or something?”
Frisk raised a finger like they were about to answer — then wobbled and stopped moving.
The lizard woman stepped forward. “We’ve got an ice pack back at the lab if you need one. You, uh… probably do.”
Frisk looked at your forehead and winced, then signed something that looked really sorry. They reached down and held out their hand to help you up.
You took it.
This time, Frisk didn’t fall.
Small victories.
As you brushed off your pants, you looked at them again. “So… Frisk, huh?”
They nodded, grinning awkwardly.
“You do this to everyone or am I just lucky?”
They signed something fast. You didn’t catch it all, but it looked like the word “magnet.”
“Nice to meet you too,” you said honestly. “I’m Y/N.”
Frisk gave a thumbs-up, then tapped their chest twice and pointed at you.
“Nice to meet you too,” you guessed.
The tall woman clapped once. “Well, you’re officially initiated. Congrats. Let’s get you some ice.”