"And you said yes?" Fell asked, looking between the two of them incredulously.

Blue glanced over at Red, who was blushing brightly, then turned back to the others. "Of course I did. We love each other!"

Stretch looked between the two of them for a moment before saying, "Okay, I'm not going to argue that Red loves you. We all know it, it's been obvious for years--"

Blue's mouth dropped open at that. "It has?" he squeaked, feeling incredibly guilty.

Fell nodded at him, a small smile on his face, as Stretch continued without responding. "--but I've never picked up on any of that from you, Blue. You don't have to marry him just because you don't think anyone else will ever ask and mean it, or because you're afraid he'll do something drastic if you tell him the truth."

Blue drew back from his brother slightly, a frown creasing his forehead. He caught Red, out of the corner of his eye, looking down at his hands like he secretly agreed with Stretch and just didn't want to admit it. Blue huffed and reached for Red's hand, squeezing it tightly before turning back to their brothers. "We've already talked about this, before we came to tell you guys. Red didn't want to take advantage of me and I didn't want to rush into anything."

Red cut in then, mumbling slightly, "He didn't say yes right away."

Blue nodded in affirmation of that statement, and Fell looked like that was good enough for him, sporting a smile brighter than Blue had ever seen on his face, but Stretch frowned tightly. "I don't believe you, bro. You're just too nice for your own good, there's no way you actually love him!"

Blue's mouth dropped open. He couldn't believe his brother would say something so incredibly mean, and right in front of Red, too! "Papy! How could you even--"

"Stop it, Sans!" Stretch said angrily, standing to loom over them and taking hold of Blue's humerus. "I'm the older one, I'm not going to allow this! I don't support you trading your life away just to help him. You're more important than that, bro, and you--"

Blue jumped to his feet, letting go of Red's hand to push his brother away from them. "Who the hell do you think you are?" he spat angrily. He heard Red's sharp intake of breath in response to his swearing, but he quickly brought his focus back to his brother.

Stretch seemed surprised, but anger quickly won out, his eyes narrowing. "Your brother. And I have a responsibility to make sure you're happy!"

"I AM HAPPY!" Blue yelled back. He took a few deep breaths to calm himself before jabbing a finger in his brother's face. "You have absolutely no right to tell me what to do, or what makes me happy! I love Red! I really do, more than anyone or anything! I just didn't know that's what it was until he got down on his knee and my whole body just...just lit up, like the sun was right there and I was as happy and warm as I would ever be! So you sit down, shut up, and stop making assumptions about whether or not I'm happy!"

There was a long silence following Blue's outburst. Red was looking at the ground again, but he was fighting a smile. Fell and Stretch were both staring at Blue, completely shell-shocked by the strength of his resolve. Then Stretch's face hardened, and he said, "How do you even know what love feels like? You're practically a child!"

Blue closed his eyes, taking deep breaths to calm himself and tightening his hands into fists by his side. He didn't want to say anything he'd regret, and he wanted this to have a happy ending, but Stretch was making it very, very hard.

When he finally thought he had ahold of himself, he opened his eyes and made eye contact with his brother. "I am not a child. I am 21 years old, and I am plenty old enough to make this decision, with or without your approval. And my decision is to be with Red. If you don't like that, you are welcome to leave."

Stretch didn't seem to know how to respond, and he sputtered slightly as Blue felt Red grab onto his hand and pull him back. He glanced at him and found that both of the UnderFell brothers were now standing, apparently ready to support him against whatever Stretch said.

"It's in my name."

Blue looked back at his brother, confused. "What are you--"

"The house. It's in my name." Stretch looked triumphant. "I don't have to go anywhere. And you don't have anywhere to go."

Blue just stared at him for a few moments. "Papy..."

"Shut up, Blue," Stretch snapped, reaching for his arm again. "I know you're making a huge mistake, and I'm not going to let it happen just because you're too naive to know that's what it is."

Blue took a step back, bumping slightly into Red, who held tighter onto his hand, confirming his support. He could feel the tears welling up, disbelief for what his brother was saying making him almost unable to respond, but finally...

"Oh, fuck you, Papyrus. You're not the only person I have! I'll stay with Alphys if that's what it's going to take!"

Then he pulled Red towards the door, ignoring the shocked way everyone was staring at him. Red stumbled slightly, as though he hadn't been expecting Blue to actually go, and Fell followed them after a tense moment of hesitation. Stretch didn't say anything, folding his arms tightly in a show of defiance.

Blue pulled the door open and stomped through, going down the steps as tears began flowing freely down his face. He heard the door close behind them, and he let go of Red's hand in favor of covering his eyes tightly and beginning to sob. How could he have done that? How could he have just left? And why would Stretch say those things?

He felt a pair of arms loop around him, holding him tightly, and he buried his head in the furry lining of Red's jacket as he continued to cry. He felt Fell lay a hand on his shoulder, and he broke into a new wave of tears.

"Hey, shhh, it's alright, it's gonna be okay, he'll come around, you'll be alright, Blue, I promise." Red was talking, keeping up a constant stream of reassurances, and Blue found himself calming down despite the whirling emotions that still swirled through his skull.

When he'd stopped crying, he pulled back, using one hand to wipe away the stray tears. "I-I have to g-go talk to Alphys, s-see if I r-really can stay with h-her," he mumbled, unable to believe that he had actually just been kicked out.

"Fuck that, you're staying with us until that asshole gets his shit together," Fell said, ever the peacemaker.

Blue turned to look at him, noting the anger in his eyes. "A-are you sure? I don't want to be a bother--"

Fell snorted loudly. "You're going to be married to my brother at some point. I'm fairly certain we can spare the room for you. Hell, you might as well share with Red, since you're going to end up that way anyway."

Red flushed brightly, but he smiled at Blue and said, "Of course you can stay with us. You don't have to stay with me, but--"

He was cut off very suddenly by Blue going on tiptoe to plant a very teary kiss on his mouth. He blushed an even brighter red, glancing up at his brother to see his reaction. Upon finding none, he kissed Blue again, brushing a few stray tears away, before saying, "Don't worry, Blue. He'll come around."

Blue nodded, seeming exhausted, then they all followed after Fell as he headed down the steps of the basement.

They were back in the kitchen, and Red was pacing back and forth as the other two watched. Blue looked terrified, watching as he expressed his anger with every motion.

"What the hell is going on?" Red said to the empty air. This was not the first time he had voiced the question, and the others stayed silent.

"How can it be gone?" At this, there was a small sniffle, just enough to make Red stop and look at Blue. There were a few tears making straight trails down his face. He made no effort to wipe them away, instead staring blankly at Red. He immediately took a step forward, starting to extend his arms before he caught himself and stopped dead. He lowered his arms slowly, watching as Blue cried. He wanted, more than anything, to wrap him up and never let him go.

But this wasn't his Blue.

"Blue," he said gently. "I need you to tell us what happened the last few days."

Blue sniffed again, eyes seeming to focus. "Or what? You'll kill me?"

Red sighed deeply, rubbing his eyes and turning to his brother for support. Fell seemed at a loss for words, but eventually he said, "Blue, we would never think of harming you."

"Why?!" Blue cried, spinning to face him. "What am I to you two?"

When he received no response, he turned to Red. "Well? Why do you keep looking at me like I'm breaking your soul? And why are you so gentle with me?"

Red didn't know how to respond. "Why...why wouldn't I be?" was all he could say.

Blue huffed in exasperation. "Oh, I don't know, maybe because you've killed people?!"

"I thought anyone could be better!" Red shouted back at him, taking a step forward. "I thought you always said you could change anyone, bring out the best in them!"

Blue stood as tall as he could, getting into Red's face. "I don't know how you know about that, but I was wrong!"

Red threw his hands into the air and snarled at him. "No, you weren't! Not about me! Not about Boss! Not about Razz and Slim and Lewd and even his asshole brother!"

Confusion was warring with the anger on Blue's face as he listened. "I don't know who any of those people are."

"Of course you don't!" Red groaned, reaching up to rub at his face in frustration, trying to hold back the tears that were threatening to come again. "And you've always been too stubborn to--"

"What's that?"

Red stopped mid-sentence, looking to see what Blue was talking about. The little skeleton appeared to steel himself, then reached out and grabbed Red's hand, bringing it to eye level before reaching to poke at something around one of his fingers.

Red snatched his hand away, holding it close to his chest. "Don't touch that!" he growled.

Blue's eyes were wide at he stared at the place where Red's hand had just been. "Was-was that a bonding ring? Are you married? "

Red stopped trying to fight the burning behind his sockets as Blue's words hit him. "I--"

Blue stepped back, horror filling his eyes. "No...it-it wasn't...are we...is it me?"

No one said anything at all for a long time, but the look on Red's face must have been answer enough. Blue took a step back, his mouth dropping open. Red managed to get ahold of himself a little more, and nodded, holding out the ring again for the other to inspect, the blue magic that danced inside it glaringly obvious now that Blue knew what to look for.

"Yes," Red answered finally. "We were bonded."