"Beep! Beep! Beep!" the alarm went off, marking the time at exactly 4:45 A.M.

"ughhh..." Sans groaned as he lazily pressed the snooze button on the alarm.

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"Beep! Beep! Beep!" the alarm rang once more, this time being abruptly silenced by Sans slamming his hand on the off button.

"argh!" the annoyed monster loudly grunted, finally giving the alarm a glimpse.

It read 6:48 A.M.

"oh shit! i'm late!" Sans gasped, scrambling out off bed and running to the bathroom to get ready for work.

Using his telekinetic magic, he turned on the faucet and let the water run over his toothbrush, as he frantically got into his work clothes.

Once his clothes were on, he took the toothbrush by hand and applied some toothpaste on it before proceeding to brush his teeth, further using more of his magic to put on his formal shoes and bring small items towards him, such as his wallet and bow tie.

After five minutes that seemed and felt like an eternity, Sans took a step back and looked at himself in the mirror.

He had successfully finished getting ready for work, and though his suit did not look nearly as perfect as last night, especially his messy bow tie, it did look pretty good for a first attempt.

Just as he was about to shortcut to the bar from his bathroom, there was a knock on his door that interrupted his focus.

Sans moaned in frustration and reluctantly partially opened the door.

"oh, morning paps." He strained a smile.

"HELLO, DEAR BROTHER. BEFORE YOU LEAVE TO YOUR NEW JOB, I WANTED TO GIVE YOU YOUR LUNCH. IT'S SOME OF MY FINEST SPAGHETTI!" Papyrus exclaimed, fully opening Sans' door and handing him a lunchbox filled to the brim with a weirdly textured spaghetti.

There seemed to be some sort of slime pouring out of the box.

"uh thanks, bro. um... how'd you know i got a new job?" the shorter brother asked, confused as to how his brother had found out about the news, considering he hadn't even brought up the subject to him.

"WELL YOU SEE, GRILLBY TEXTED ME 30 MINUTES AGO ASKING WHERE WERE YOU FOR WORK!" Papyrus answered brightly.

"oh..."

Sans anxiously shoved his hands in his pockets, thinking to himself how sad it would be if he were fired before he even got the opportunity to actually work.

As much as he wanted to ask Papyrus how and when he got Grillby's phone number, he didn't bother asking, as that would just end up in more wasted time.

Though, in all honesty, Sans did find it a little disappointing how his brother had Grillby's phone number while he, who had known Grillby for years, did not.

In addition to that, he really wanted that phone number as well, so it was a bummer.

"welp, bye paps. i'm heading off to work now, I'm pretty sure grillby has a bone to pick with me by now considering how late i am running, hehe. love ya." Sans began speed walking down the stairs on his way to the front door.

"NYEH!!! BYE, SANS! LOVE YOU TOO! EVEN IF YOU SAY THOSE TERRIBLE PUNS AND FORGOT TO READ ME MY BEDTIME STORY LAST NIGHT!" the taller skeleton emphasized as he waved a goodbye to his elder brother.

Just as Sans opened the door and was about to leave, he paused and turned back to his brother.

"tibia honest, i find my puns quite humerus. and sorry for not showing up last night. i'll make it up to you." He apologized, earning an irritated screech from Papyrus.

"NYEHHH!!! NO THEY ARE NOT!!! THEY ARE EXCRUCIATING TO HEAR! AND YOU BETTER MAKE IT UP TO ME!" Papyrus's rambled on, his arms crossed over his chest.

With that, Sans chuckled and closed the door behind him, finally shortcutting somewhere near his work.

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Cautiously, Sans opened the entrance door as slow as he could in order to minimize the ring of the bell.

It was still somewhat loud, but given that the lights seemed to be off, Sans clung on to the hope that Grillby hadn't heard the bell.

The anxious skeleton looked around the empty bar, and began tiptoeing towards the kitchen.

There was still no sign of the bartender, and it seemed almost as if he hadn't even showed up.

Sans prayed that he wasn't there, or that he wouldn't notice that he had only now just arrived.

As bad as it was, he was hoping he could gaslight Grillby into thinking he had been there all along and that he simply hadn't noticed him throughout the morning.

All of a sudden, the kitchen door slammed open and the lights flicked on.

"fuck..."

Just by the kitchen's doorway, there stood Grillby​ with his arms crossed above his chest, giving Sans a stern look.

Sans could feel the sweat beginning to form on his forehead, as the silence was unbearable. 

He was dead meat.

"heyy, grillbz... beautiful morning, am i right?" Sans tried easing the mood, both of his hands relaxed on his waist as he looked through the window.

It was still pitch black outside—the sun wouldn't be rising for the next hour.

Grillby cleared his throat.

"You're late. It's 6:53 in the morning and the bar opens in seven minutes." He firmly spoke, his voice sharper than a blade.

He seemed pissed.

All Grillby did was look at Sans directly, expecting him to do or say something.

Sans sighed, letting his expression fall from being nervous to apologetic.

"i'm sorry. i won't let it happen again. please forgive me, grillbz. i am so grateful for this opportunity you've given me, and i don't wanna mess up the chance i got of being able to work alongside you. you really have been nothing but great to me throughout the years." Sans apologized, his voice full of sincerity.

Slightly taken aback by Sans's change of demeanor and remark, Grillby blushed slightly and looked away, thoughtful.

He was trying hard to stay mad, as he didn't want to give Sans any special treatment and let him get away with things a normal boss would find unacceptable, but Sans really made that difficult.

Throughout the years, Sans had always been really good at manipulating situations to his own benefit with his charismatic personality.

Despite that, Sans's apology seemed heartfelt, which genuinely felt very out of the ordinary.

Not only that, but the way he flattered him made Grillby's soul skip a beat.

After all, who doesn't like receiving a compliment?

Unable to contain himself, Grillby gave in and sighed, a little grin sneaking up across his face and some laughter escaping his mouth.

Sans, dumbfounded, raised a brow with confusion written all over his face.

Did this mean he was forgiven or was he being laughed at?

"Oh, Sans. I can't stay mad at you." Grillby admitted, indicating that there was no resentment towards Sans' tardy.

"It'd be silly of anyone to assume you wouldn't be late." He added, covering his mouth politely and giggling.

Sans scoffed and chuckled.

The audacity of this man to call him out like this—but he didn't mind it if it meant he could make him smile.

Sans found himself staring at Grillby as he laughed quietly.

He never really got to hear his laugh, given that he was so quiet all the time, and his laugh was usually drowned out by the loudness of the customers in the bar.

For some reason, Grillby's laugh gave him the sensation of butterflies in his stomach.

His laughter was... cute.

Suddenly, the realization of what he was thinking hit Sans, and his face grew warmer, causing him to look away in a subtle vain attempt to hide his face. 

Unfortunately to him, Grillby was quite adept at noticing small details—his lack of talking throughout the years allowed him to develop outstanding observational skills.

"Are you okay?" He pointed at Sans' flushed face, walking closer towards him and leaning in.

"y-yeah... we should really get to work now." Sans muttered out in response, his face darkening more at the proximity of Grillby's face to his.

The bartender's flames lit up at the reminder that the bar would be opening up very soon.

He had gotten so caught up in the moment he didn't realize he only had two minutes left to finish wiping the tables and and setting up napkins for the customers.

In a rush, Grillby walked behind the counter and began taking out multiple stacks of napkins to set at each table.

However, before he could start walking towards the tables, he was stopped by Sans.

"here, let me help you with that." he said, gently taking the napkins from Grillby's hands.

"now go do whatever you need to do, i'll take care of the tables" Sans assured, winking at the bartender.

Grillby nodded and made his way back to the kitchen.

Once past the kitchen doors, the bartender sighed with content.

He really loved the idea of working the diner with Sans.

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Edit of January 16th, 2018:
Another chapter done editing.

Edit of July 3rd, 2018:
Done.

Edit of April 11th, 2022:
I made the chapter more realistic, but fluffy. It was way too cheesy and a little cringy lmao

Edit of October 18th, 2024:
More minor detail changes!