Chapter Text
Frisk gently pushed the door open, being met with a dark room. The curtains had been shut, and all the lights were off. The only light coming through was the pale yellow lamp which was turned on in the hallway, creaking in through the doorgap.
"Chara?", they mumbled. "I know you're in here..."
There was no response. The only audible thing was but the tiniest of sobs. Frisk shut the door behind them, taking notice of Chara's curled up figure in the corner of the bedroom. Their knees were pulled up to their chest, their head resting on their legs.
"Hey there..." The low decibels of the whispers sounded deafening in the quiet room.
"I want to be alone.", Chara managed to say in between sobs.
"No, you don't. I know you." Frisk sat down in front of them, pushing Chara's knees apart to get closer to them. Tear stained eyes met their own.
"I'm so sorry."
"For what? For opening up?" They nodded. "It's what we've always wanted you to do, Chara."
"I ruined everything, just like I always do." They pulled up their knees again, resting their arms on them. They averted their gaze to the floor. "Mom and dad are probably through the roof right now."
"They're worried, yeah, but that's because they love you. You didn't ruin anything. We're beyond grateful you shared this with us."
"Then why does it feel so wrong?" Chara looked back up at Frisk, seeing the tears dwelling up in their eyes. Chara sobbed.
"You're so used to doing everything alone, handling everything alone." Frisk shuffled closer to them, cupping their cheeks. "You're not alone anymore. You have your family, you have me... We're a team, Chara. You and me. I'll help you carry your burdens, and you help me carry mine." With their thumbs, Frisk wiped away the tears travelling down Chara's cheeks.
"Can you carry that much?" They let out a sound, sounding like a mix of a sob and a laugh.
"I'm sure it's fine. You helped me all these years. Let me help you, Chara."
Chara lifted their arms off of their knees, using one of theirs hands to cup Frisk's. The slow motions of their thumbs on their cheeks felt soothing.
"Chara, I-"
"Don't say it, please." They closed their eyes, leaning into the touch. "I don't think I can handle saying it."
"You don't have to. It's okay. But listen to me?"
"... Okay."
"I love you, Chara." They sobbed.
---
The loud music blasted through their headphones as Frisk scrolled through their social media apps. It had been around twenty minutes since Clover was late for their biweekly hangout in the park. The spring afternoon went accompanied by dark clouds, forecasting rain at any given moment.
I'LL BE RIGHT THERE I PROMISE I PROMISEEEEE
Frisk rolled their eyes, typing out their response.
Hurry up. It's about to rain.
Their phone buzzed.
Startin' to sound like your partner 🙄
Frisk chuckled. That did look like something Chara would type out. A small drop of water collected on the top of their screen. Great, the rain had started. Texting Clover to meet them inside the park café, they stood up from the bench.
A hand pressed against their chest, halting them and pushing them back slightly. Frisk looked up from their phone, lifting one ear of their headphones. They frowned.
"Well, well, look who it is!", the tall guy in front of them said. "It's our favourite monster fucker!" The girl next to him giggled.
"Just leave me alone.", Frisk mumbled, attempting to push past them. It was to no avail.
"What? What, what, what? Speak up, we're humans, we don't have that good of hearing!" The guy pushed Frisk again, a little more forceful this time.
"Aw, c'mon dear, you wouldn't hit a girl, would you?", the girl next to him remarked.
"She always says she's not a girl, I'm sure she doesn't mind."
"Will you fuck off already?" They snapped at them.
"Oh? Feisty today, aren't we?" He got closer to Frisk, seemingly ready to push them again. "Clover isn't here to help you, now is he? I'd watch your words."
"Clover's not-" Frisk said, balling their fists. Before they could finish their sentence, he spoke again.
"Neither's your new boyfriend. Did he already get sick of you, hm?"
The rain started clattering down harder. There was no thunder, yet the words the bully spoke struck down like lightning on Frisk. They felt their nails dig into the skin of their palms, not surprised if it would end up leaving a mark or even pierce their skin.
"Leave Chara out of this."
"Oh, so that's his name! Chara!" The guy shoved his hands in his pockets. "Saw him comment on Jenna's post. Needless to say, I figured he'd be more annoyed about it. I wouldn't want to be seen with someone like you."
"Shut up...", Frisk said through gritted teeth.
"Then again, I might have completely misread his character. Maybe he's even more of a pussy then you are."
"SHUT UP!"
It had happened in an instant. Before they were even aware of their arm moving, the bully was knocked to the floor, muddy gravel splashing up against the hem of Frisk's jeans. The stinging in their knuckles felt burning.
"Damn, Frisk." He remarked, wiping off some of the blood coming out of his nose. "You pack more of a punch than I took you for." He stood up, cracking his knuckles. "Alright, you got it."
Frisk winced, preparing for impact.
----
"He really gave it to ya', didn't he?" Clover chuckled as they wiped off the mud and dried blood of Frisk's cheek with a napkin.
"At least I hit him back."
"Whoa, Frisk the Pacifist?"
"I put the fist in pacifist.", they laughed, placing their lips around the paper straw, having a sip of their strawberry milkshake. "Clover, can we... not tell Chara about this?"
They raised an eyebrow, looking them up and down. "You want to pretend they won't see the black eye and bruised jaw?"
"I'll just say I fell."
"Chara isn't stupid." Clover pushed around their root beer. "Do you want me to call them? Or Asriel? Toriel?"
"... I'll call them."