A/N: How are the quotes for memory? I memorized nearly the whole book lmao

Also I know I mentioned on my profile that I would wait for 100 followers, but I hit that already. The chapter wasn't close to ready at all. So, rn I'm only at 99, but it's close enough. Btw the a/n at the end gets deep and introspective and slightly depressing. Just warning ya.

"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife."

You read these words excitedly, laying on your bed and hiding from the world. You were scared that you would be flocked by the children of the house if you left your spot. Right now, it was Friday night, so you decided to spend the weekend completing a goal you had never found time for. That would be reading Pride and Prejudice. You had never had time to do so in high school for... reasons.

You had read another book by Jane Austen in your Lit class, and from that moment had wanted to read another. So here you were years later, finally reading it. Armed with (F/D), (F/S) and your music, you retreated from the world to enjoy your Friday night.

You sipped your drink as you turned the page, already interested. After that killer first line, it was hard not to be sucked in. You read and read and read and forgot everything you had ever worried about. That was the beauty of books to you. You could get positively and blissfully lost. You owed nothing to the world, to anyone as you read.

The words flew past and went into your mind, telling a story you could never experience. All this happened, as you were simply on your bed biting your thumb.

It almost made you believe you were special.

But that was ruined when the door was swung open and the illusion was harshly destroyed.

"What do you want?" You nearly growled at the intruder.

"Um, (Y/N), I'm hungry. And it's already eight and we haven't had dinner yet," Frisk murmured timidly.

Startled and disbelieving, you took a glance at the clock by your bed. You found that it was indeed eight at night, and you had a child to feed.

"Alright then, Frisk. Today we are going to call on our best friend named 'microwave meal,'" you spoke as you stood from the bed, and nearly fell over.

"Are you okay?!" Frisk asked, sounding very concerned.

"Yeah I'm fine, my legs just fell asleep. That's what happens when you spend six hours reading. Speaking of which, I need a bookmark..."

Frisk grabbed your hand and started pulling you out of the room, "Nope, no time for bookmarks. I need to eat."

You laughed out loud at her and willingly followed the little girl to the kitchen. You perused the assortment of frozen meals in the fridge, and picked one you thought Frisk would like.

"Oh, and (Y/N), I think Ton-Ton is broken," she told you, peeking at the microwave hungrily. 

¨Wait, what?¨

¨Yeah, Ton-Ton. You know, Mettaton.¨

¨No, I mean the part where you said he's broken. Not that I didn't notice the nickname.¨

¨He's been in his room for the past few hours. I haven't seen him all day.¨

¨Well then, I'd better check on him. I do not want Alphys to kill me,¨ you commented as the microwave beeped. 

You handed Frisk the meal and she seated herself at the table. Meanwhile, you busied yourself with making sure your robotic friend was not malfunctioning. The last thing you wanted was his lizard mom coming after for killing her creation. You ascended the stairs to the upper level and walked to his room. 

You paused outside the door after hearing his voice talking loudly. Deciding that he was well and alive, you turned to leave. However, you heard your name, and returned. It may have been wrong to snoop on him, but you assured yourself he wouldn't find out. 

¨Why are you asking about them?¨ he said, sounding defensive. He paused, as if listening to someone else speak.

¨You don't have to worry. Frisk, the little darling, she's doing lovely. And (Y/N)-¨ he paused again.

¨Well, I don't know Alphy, I can't tell what they're thinking half the time. And they're so secretive. They never tell anyone about what they thinks or feel. I don't know anything about them, so how should I know that?¨

¨Alphy, I- I'm not supposed to, but-¨

¨Maybe it's something that I kept when I got the body. After all, I kept the rest of my personality. I don't see why the feelings I have should change.¨

¨I'm so confused, dear. We're friends, after all, so it's probably just that. But there are still times when I look at them and, I feel something. How did you realize what you felt for Undyne, darling? Is this like that?¨

¨Oh, I see. Well, it's too early to know anything for sure, right?" You heard a nervous laugh from him. You'd never seen him with so little confidence before.

And what was this that he was talking about with you? Your mind wandered to last night, his hand around your own, his gentle touch...

Nope, you promised yourself that you would stop. You resolved that you would walk away and push everything you had heard from your mind and walk away.

¨Alright, I'll talk to you soon. I haven't seen them all night, so I think I'll go talk to them. Yes, love you too.¨

Your mind sounded every alarm. He would see you, see that you had heard, unless you approached him first. Accepting that it was the better option, you knocked on his door. It took a moment, but he opened the door and smiled as he always did. 

¨Why, there you are, darling. I was just about to go and see you. Where have you been all evening?" He asked, moving past and letting you enter his room. 

The plainness of it struck you again. You made yet another mental note to do something about that the next time the opportunity presented itself. He needed a room that could truly portray him and his personality. 

"Sweetheart? Hello? Are you there?"

"Oh, whoops. I spaced, sorry. I've actually been reading all night. I was sort of hiding from the world," you responded, forgetting your design ideas for his room. That would have to wait. "Where have you been? Frisk thought you were broken, you know."

"I haven't been doing much of anything, mainly thinking and charging up. I have so many wondrous ideas to share with you, beautiful!" He expressed.

"Oh really now? Would you care to elaborate?" you nudged him in his glass stomach. He gulped slightly and took a seat on his bed. You knew this could take a while, so you sat also, crisscrossing your legs and facing him.

"Well, first and foremost I was hoping we could glamour this space up a bit. It is nothing like my personality at all, you see, beautiful? I can't  thrive at all in this environment!" He ended with an exclamation, as if it were the most important thing in the world and he simply could not survive if you did not immediately throw glitter on every surface.

You entertained that thought for a while, picturing Mettaton doing grand leaps and turns around the room while shooting glitter from his hands. You couldn't help but smile slightly at the mental image.

"Darling, you aren't paying attention to me," he beseeched you., "I want your opinion on this."

"My opinion is that you finally move out and get a job," you joked, "You never do anything around here anyways. "

"How could  you say that," he demanded indignantly.

"Don't  blow a fuse," you warned him, as you heard his fan accelerate. You held up your hands defensively.

"I won't, trust me. Do you even know how dreadfully grueling repairs are?" he assured you.

"Okay, keep talking to me later. I have to make sure that Frisk gets to bed," you cut the conversation short. You had become fully aware of the time and remembered your "motherly" duties. 

Frisk was obediently sitting at the table, sipping her milk. Her emptied plate was placed in front of her.

"You ate it all? Didn't give it to the dog?" you checked.

"We don't even have a dog," she laughed at you. Her little mouth curled into a jovial smile at your silliness. You couldn't help but chuckle along with her.

"I know, I know. Anyway, it is time for you to go to bed, little missy."

"Fine," she grumbled slightly.

You took her hand and brought her up the stairs to her room. She retrieved pajamas and, giving you a hug and a kiss on the cheek, she rushed off to shower. Contentedly, you strolled back to your room. You sat on your bed and picked up your book, which remained open to the correct page. You were about halfway through it, after your two hours straight of reading earlier.

Returning to your previous position, you picked up the book. Hungrily, your eyes began to devour the words again. At first it had seemed rather dull, but now the real story was beginning.

"(Y/N), darling, are you in here again?" Mettaton's voice asked as you heard soft tapping on the door.

"I am, I am. You can come in, you know," you called back, placing your bookmark in the spine and closing it softly.

He prodded the door open and stepped into the room, looking around briefly in almost wonder. It occurred to you that he had never actually been in your room,  while you constantly barged into his.

"What's up- ohhh," you remembered your agreement to continue discussing the redesigning of his room.

"I figured that you had forgotten. Do you really like that book so much?"

"Yeah, it's a classic. Maybe you should read it some time," you suggested. Mettaton was still standing in the doorway and hadn't yet approached you or taken a step in.

"I don't know. Perhaps if I have the time," he commented, still refusing to move.

You decided to just address it and beckon him,"Glitterbot, you know you can come closer, don't you? I barge in your room all the time."

He awkwardly stepped up to the bed. He sat, just as you had sat on his bed not even fifteen minutes before. He apologized, "I've just never  been in here before."

"Well look at you being all shy," you laughed out loud, "You're such a dork, Glitterbot."

He feigned insult but let you poke fun at himself anyway. You eventually stopped your jesting, and settled down, leaning back into your headboard. You yawned, although you were unaware that you were even tired.

"Well, we can always talk tomorrow. I should let you sleep," he stood and was about to leave.

"Hey, Glitterbot, if you're leaving anyway, can you toss me a shirt from the middle drawer in my bureau?" you requested, "I might as well be comfortable as I read."

He opened the drawer, and you immediately cringed. His fan whir whir whirrrrred as he slammed it closed abruptly.

"Wrong drawer?"

He nodded, "Wrong drawer."

"Could've been worse, Glitterbot. It's fine," you attempted to reassure him. He reached blindly into the correct drawer and grabbed a shirt randomly, tossing it over to you.

"I'll go now. Goodnight," he quickly rushed out the door, loudly closing it behind him. You changed into the long black t-shirt without bothering to get out of bed. As you pulled it over your head, the image of Mettaton's startled face flashed into your mind's eye. You managed to hold back a few snickers, but before long you couldn't contain it. You burst into gales of unrestricted guffaws. 

As you laughed, he came in the room again. You quickly pulled the blanket over your unclothed lower half and tried your darnedest to stop, if only for his sake.

"I realized that I never got a chance to ask what your book was about," he said, "I felt that I should have."

"You were standing outside the door that whole time, weren't you," you rhetorically stated.

"I can't believe that you would accuse me of that!" he rebutted. You could see right through his defense, and it nearly made you explode with mirth again.

You gestured  for him to come over to you and he stood before you.

"Come here, I can read it to you if you like," you offered.

"Alright, I'll listen to this," he sat across from you, his long legs crossed daintily."

You gave him a quick explanation of the plot up to where you had read and picked up from your previous spot.

He appeared mildly interested from what you could tell, but you were honestly paying more attention to the plot at that point. The bed creaked as he shifted to lie down in his spot, supporting his head with his metal  arm. You looked to him to see if he was paying attention. His gaze was firmly fixed on you.

"In vain I have struggled, it will not do," you read aloud, finishing the sentence with a loud yawn.

"It sounds like you're struggling in vain, darling," Mettaton remarked.

"Shut up. Just lemme finish the page," you tiredly spoke.

Mettaton made an upset sound, but you prepared yourself to continue. Your eyes scanned the page for your place, and you fell upon the rest of the sentence. The words there taunted you, and the thought of completing it out loud with him in the room frightened you. After all the confusion you experienced of late, it would only mess you up further to have to say this.

"I actually think I should stop here," you said curtly, closing the book and sitting up.

"No, I want to know why he struggled. Keep going, beautiful. I'm sure you can stay awake," he insisted.

It was just a line in a book. It meant nothing. If you held back and he found out himself, he would be even more suspicious. You just had to nonchalantly read it. It meant nothing, it meant nothing, it meant nothing.

Everything meant nothing now, didn't it?

Everything he said or did, you told yourself it meant nothing.

You refused to struggle in vain.

Struggle with what?

"M-my feelings will not be repressed," you continued.

My feelings will not be repressed.

My feelings will be repressed.

I have no feelings to be repressed.

You took a deep breath, "You must allow me to tell you how ardently I a-admire and-d..."

Almost there. Hang in there.

"... love you."

You did it. A casual upwards glance told you that he hadn't noticed anything out of the ordinary.

"I knew it would happen!" he triumphantly remarked.

"Yeah, I guess I did too," you sighed as the butterflies tormenting your innocent stomach dispersed."

"Well, I'll leave you on that happy note," he smiled and sat back up before standing.

"Goodnight, Glitterbot," you mustered a small smile.

"Goodnight, beautiful. We should continue reading this some time. I truly enjoyed it."

"Mhmm. Mind getting the light for me?"

You lied in darkness, struggling to lock out every single thought. But the idea was so pervasive that you couldn't stop them.

You tried to fall asleep, and dream of anything but him.

In vain you struggled.

It did not do.

A/N: I have no excuse for neglecting to update for so long.

I can only apolgize, and you need not accept the apology. In fact, I expect you won't.

I am horrible with commitment, and I always procrastinate. This definitely is not the first time and will not be the last.

I hope you all enjoyed, and I hope you can find it in yourselves to forgive me.

Also nearly 6k?! Wtf is happening here?!