Save Point (Sans x Reader)

Chapter Twenty-Two, Part Three

The night is entirely darkened by the time you make it out of the 24/7 gas station. There's almost no one around the area besides a few people -- mostly truckers and bus drivers -- refilling their tanks and stomachs. Sans accompanies you to your car before he goes to wait for the last bus.

“Want me to drive you home?” you ask, stopping in front of your car. The few lampposts surrounding the parking lot allow you to see which key you were meant to choose from the rest. “You usually take the bus, right?”

“Thanks,” he replies, stopping a few feet away from you. “But I’ll take the bus. It’s late, and the road there’s about an hour away from here.”

You hum at his response, pensively toying with your keys while using your index finger to hold onto them. “Then what about staying for the night? It’s better than being back home real late.”

His face turns a bit brighter at your comment before he gets the chance to speak up. “If it’s really fine with you, sure -- I’m damn lucky tomorrow’s a holiday, else I’d be in for a bad night.”

With that thought moved out of the way, you nod and unlock your car, waiting for him to get on first before you do the same. Silence takes over until you turn the key, the engine spurting a few times before actually getting to turn on. You make note of saving up a little more to get it checked.

Breathing in, you grab onto the steering wheel, change the gear, and move out of the parking lot, the sound of the air conditioner along with the faint static of the news playing on the radio making you feel more drowsy than you already were. It was a good thing you took a bit of caffeine back at the gas station.

★

“(Y/N)!”

You feel hair spike up on your arms when you hear an all-too recognizable voice calling out from Solana’s front yard. Your eyes snap over to said direction, where you come across Faust standing next to Solana, who lets go of his hand to let him run after you.

“(Y/N)!” he calls out again, short legs rushing to get to you.

Shock makes you unable to shorten the distance, though by the time you snap out of it, he’s already pouncing on you, small arms wrapping around your back as he buries his face against your torso. You can feel all sorts of emotions by having him in your hold -- from surprise, to relief, to worry and fright. Your eyes search around for any signs of Jessie, though they’re nowhere to be seen.

“Where’s Jessie?” you question, quirking an eyebrow once you’re let go. “Are they waiting for me somewhere?”

Faust leaves your side a while after the hug, giving you space to ask Solana a few of the endless, burning questions running rampant in your mind.

“The lil’ rascal here snuck away from home at around eight, an hour after you left. Don’t know how Jessie hasn’t bothered to check if he’s here yet,” Solana explains, making you look back at her front yard. She's now sitting on the stairs of her balcony, busy tucking a strand of curly hair behind her ear as she casts her eyes at you. “I didn’t call you, ‘cuz I didn’t wanna interrupt your plans. Figured Faust also didn’t wanna go back if he went to the trouble of taking two buses to get here.”

“Two buses?” you ask, the words not quite fitting together with you. “And Jessie hasn't called yet?” Disbelief is clear in your tone, though you can't bring yourself to lessen the anger surging along with it. The mere thought of Faust traveling a long distance on his own made wish you could confront Jessie right at this moment. “How. . . How did you know I was going out, anyway? You didn't have to worry about that! I don't want to burden you with something like this.”

“Honey, I would've done that if you hadn't actually taken time to change outta that goshdarned work uniform.” she asserts, a giggle softening her expression. "You looked happy when I saw you leave earlier ago."

“Told ya you looked different,” Sans comments, chuckling.

You look to Sans's side to see Faust hugging him tight, the sleeping child resting his head against the monster's shirt and clinging onto him. It makes you wonder how he finds it remotely comfortable, given who he’s leaning against.

“Let me help you,” you state, refusing to acknowledge either Sans or Solana's prodding compliments. You approach the monster's side and take Faust away from his hands. “He’s in for a scolding as soon as he wakes up.”

Heat begins to gather on your cheeks, ears, and neck as you continue to process the situation, already sensing your voice was about to break with the suddenness of Faust's return. You stand and wobble when hoisting the child up in your arms, though you soon stabilize yourself by resting your back against the car door. Sans takes the keys from your free hand and locks the car.

“Thank you, Sol,” you speak up, holding Faust tighter as you make eye contact with her again. “I. . . I really owe you for all this!”

“I did it ‘cuz I wanted to,” she replies, warm smile bright, even from far away. “You need your time off too, (Y/N). Just make sure to contact Jessie first ‘fore they decide to pull something funny for what’s happened.”

“I will,” you assure her with a firm nod, a smile showing on your face.

★

The night grows quiet once you tuck Faust away in bed, being sure to leave some space for yourself in order to let Sans have your room. You yawn when leaving the child’s bedroom, though it isn’t out of tiredness. You lost your sleep the second you saw Faust running after you. If anything, you're certain that yawn was out of hunger with how long it had been since your outing. It was now almost three in the morning, yet you were still wide awake.

“Still up, (Y/N)?” Sans asks, emerging from the stairs. He’s now changed into the most appropriate clothing you could find for him, it being an old Uni t-shirt a size too big and some loose pajama pants he had to hoist up to keep the legs from dragging across the floor. “I’m guessin’ you’re not tired anymore.”

“How’d you know?” you tease, leaning your back against the door of the bedroom.

“Just a hunch,” he replies, mimicking the tone you used on him.

You smile and straighten back up, heavy eyelids making it hard for you to focus your gaze on just one place. Now that you’re beginning to process everything that went on, you can’t seem to think clearly anymore. The only thing you feel is in the right place is remembering Faust is safe in his room.

Through the past few hours, your riptide of emotions ranged from nervousness to anger. In included the fact that your ex didn’t pick up neither of the two calls you made -- one right after you made it home with Faust in your arms, and another right after you finished setting everything up for him. There was an hour difference in both of the calls, and they had yet to call you back. You were close to putting an end to their game if it weren't so late in the night.

“I want to wait a little bit before I go to sleep,” you speak up again, nodding your head over to your bedroom. “My room’s all set if you want to go there.”

The snicker you hear from the monster is enough to make your eyes grow wide and for you to rush on fixing your words.

“I’ll be sleeping with Faust in his room once I get in contact with Jessie. If not, then I'll just have to talk with the police department about this,” you speak, breathing out your exhaustion through your nose. “Don't let me keep you up, else you'll get tired of me too soon.”

You mean your last words as a joke, though the look on his face is the opposite of what you hoped it to be. You see he’s not too convinced by your dismissal, though you shake that off by smiling at him. If it was one thing you couldn’t do right now, it was talking things out with someone else. That single ‘So how are you feeling?’ people often asked led you to break down with emotions you didn't want to make public.

It didn't help knowing the day of the custody trail was getting closer with each day, nor remembering the fact that Jessie was back at your home country -- assuming from the child who'd taken two buses just to get back home.

You're not sure where to begin or what to do now besides wait for the sun to rise and for your phone to ring at least once.