Frisk's heart warmed at hearing Papyrus' response to her apology. She smiled and nodded, letting her hand drop from her eye and to the table. She folded her arms and sat quietly, watching Papyrus as he worked and listening to him. 

She thanked him as he set her mug in front of her. The sweet, chocolatey aroma wafted into her nostrils, carrying the heat and moisture from the steam. She picked up the mug with both hands, careful to not burn herself, and sipped slowly. She smiled as she lowered the drink from her face.

What was it about hot chocolate that always made sleepless nights better? Considering that, Frisk quickly came to the conclusion that it wasn't just the sweet beverage. It was that it was made by a dear friend, out of an attempt to make her feel better. And it had certainly worked.

Frisk swiped a drip of whipped cream from the side of her mug, and as she licked it off her finger she looked up at Papyrus. While he spoke, she held on to her hot chocolate with both hands, keeping her attention solely on him. Gradually, her gaze drifted down to her mug. She hunched over it. 

It was hard to imagine what Sans was like before Frisk fell into the Underground, before the resets. Had he been just as troubled? Frisk doubted it. If only she hadn't been so selfish in past timelines, so uncaring of the world she had fallen into. Sans would have never seen his own brother die - multiple times at that - as well as the rest of his family if she had never shown up. He would have never had to relive day after day, unsure when the next reset would happen.

Sans was the true victim in this. He hadn't done anything wrong, yet he was put through nightmare after nightmare. Frisk had sins to atone for; Sans did not, and it wasn't fair. 

Sometimes she wished she could just...Pop out of existence. No more resets. No more unstable determination. 

Frisk looked up at Papyrus and smiled softly, only for his sake. "That's not selfish at all, Papyrus. I understand. He doesn't talk to me about it, either, but maybe I can...Try harder to reach out to him." Sans and hers unspoken agreement came to mind. They wouldn't speak of past timelines to each other, but that was clearly not working as well as they hoped. 

No more bottling it up. No more avoiding it. Sans needed her as much as she needed him, in ways that no one else could help them. As much as she didn't want to face it, Frisk was prepared to see and hear Sans' anger towards her, like in past timelines. At least it'd be out in the open, rather than poisoning them both from the inside.

"I'll do my best, Paps." She smiled again, but it held a sadness behind it.