Great Start
It was a week before Christmas, and you had yet to go gift shopping, despite already having a list ready.
Undyne made sure she was the one to go shopping with you, ‘You CAN’T go shopping with your boyfriend! It would ruin the surprise to the gifts!’
You waited anxiously in front of what you hoped was her an Alphys’ house.
“Oh, _-_____, you’re h-here! P-please c-come in!” Alphys had answered your knocking, and stepped aside to let you in.
You stood awkwardly in the foyer, waiting for Alphys to bring Undyne from where ever she was.
“YA READY, NERD?!” she shouted from somewhere else in the house, making you flinch. You nodded when she came into view, clutching the bag in your hands.
You mentally checked and rechecked your list during the ride to the mall. Malls have everything, and you were very glad and relieved to know that. Everyone was easy to think for, you asked Alphys id Mettaton was going to be there, since you had the worst time thinking of something for him. She said he couldn’t come because of a show, and actually asked for you and Sans to come in for a visit five days from now. You sputtered out that you were mostly fine with it, all you needed was for Sans to okay it.
As you reviewed your list for the last time, you deflated realizing pretty much every item was going to be in a different stre.
“This is going to be fun,” you sighed, feeling defeated already.
“Don’t worry! We’ve got all day to shop!” Undyne slapped you hard on the back when you stepped out of the car. She helped you pick out Alphys’ gift, - an anime figure - but ended up leaving you alone to shop for her own list as well.
You had spent probably the worst two hours of your life there, that day. Everything you needed was available, you had just gotten lost several times. The nearby maps were your new best friends the whole time.
It was late in the afternoon when you met up with Undyne again. She offered to buy you some food before you two went back.
“Sure!” you smiled, fiddling with one of your shopping bags, “oh, but I still need to get one more thing.”
“What is it?”
“A book. For Sans. Thought that maybe you could help me pick which one would be the best?”
“Well you are his date, you should know what he would like,” she shot you a silly smile.
“Y-yeah, that makes sense,” you blush, embarrassed from asking her.
“Let’s get some food first. Then we can get a book for your Sansy,” she winked, leading you to the food court.
Your sweet tooth caused you to get mostly sugary foods, which Undyne barked in laughter from. She said your sweets obsession fit perfectly with Sans’ condiments obsession.
It was weird being in a bookstore besides the one you worked at. You still loved being around books just as much though. Instead of spending forever looking through every aisle for the sake of sifting through books, you forced yourself into the science section of the store. You were sure he’d be happy with almost any book in this section, but you picked one about constellations. The two of you could use it when you’re able to watch the sky without freezing half to death.
Undyne gave you a sappy look as you cheerfully pulled the book out of the shelf and brought it up to the counter to be bought.
“You two love nerds were made for each other,” she commented when you got fastened into her car.
“That’s a good thing, isn’t it?”
“OBVIOUSLY!”
You giggled into your hand. Undyne was really fun to be around.
When you got home, you dropped the bags from your trip onto the bed, you following soon after. Today was a satisfying day, you did something that made you feel full.
Out of every one you shopped for, you felt the most proud over Sans’ gift. You hoped he would like it.
You weren't sure exactly what Papyrus would want besides spaghetti, so you got him a gray scarf that you felt would fit him. Undyne got some weights, since you knew she enjoyed working out a lot. Toriel had gotten some raspberry tea that you enjoyed a lot when you were younger. Asgore was hard, but you chose to get some lily seeds for him when you found out he also had a thing for flowers. Last but not least, you had gotten Frisk some drawing supplies. They had seemed to enjoy art from all the pictures they showed you, so you had bought a whole bunch of colorful pencils and markers, colors you wouldn't normally find from any old store.
Overall, you were pretty proud of yourself. This Christmas was going to be one of the best ones yet. The week had started out great.
You didn’t know what went wrong.
Everything started to go downhill the day after your shopping trip. You were spending your day, lounging at Sans’ and Papyrus’ house, absentmindedly handing a mug of tea, and ended up spilling over half the contents onto Sans’ lap. Apologizing a hundred times a minute, you rushed to get a towel for him. He gave you an annoyed look when you continued to apologize.
“geeze, would you stop saying ‘sorry?” he snapped all of a sudden.
“O-oh,” you stopped moving, “s-sorry, s-,” you bit your lip to stop yourself from apologizing more.
“i get it, you feel bad. but you don’t need to talk like a broken record to set your point.”
“I-I’m s-sorry. It’s a h-habit…” you looked down at your hands.
“just stop! it can’t be that hard to not say it.”
Changing from biting your lip to a fingernail, you shut up. ‘Sorry’ was just a very common word for you to say, especially at moments like this. Being quiet was the best option to make the person less angry.
Oh gosh, he’s angry at me.
“I-I’ll just go now,” you said quietly, almost running away from him.
When you got home, you were a panting and crying mess. What went wrong? Scrambling over to your room, you picked up the sketchbook that had been taunting you all month. Flipping to the page you found yourself going to more often, you pulled out your phone and typed in the number sitting in the upper right corner.
You sighed and regained your composure before hitting the call button. Hopefully the number still worked. When an old and familiar voice answered on the other side, you took one more shuddery breath.
“...Hi, mom.”