Previously

She continues to scold me for being stupid, but I don't even care anymore. I take each blow inflicted on me and turn on autopilot mode.

I could've walked past the house in autopilot, but, luckily, snap out of it in time.

"Heh...home sweet home??"

It's not really sweet. If anything, it's more bitter. I guess that's where the word "bittersweet" comes from.

Now

PJ's POV

It's been two weeks since then. Like any other day, I spend some time staring out the window, letting the sunlight wake me up.

I slowly sit up and rub my eyes tiredly. I get up and pick out something I would normally wear: a magenta t-shirt, letterman, jeans, and socks.

After putting on my clothes, I go to the bathroom and look in the mirror. Same old, same old. Other than looking a little stressed, nothing is out of place.

'Should I take (Y/N) somewhere today? She needs a distraction or something from this whole mess.'

I end up deciding to do so, but I would need to figure out the details.

I step out of the bathroom and make my way downstairs. Dad and Papa are discussing something serious with each other with some important-looking documents in front of them.

I greet them good morning and they respond back with the same. I quickly make myself some toast and hold it in my mouth as I make my way upstairs again.

I stayed up until midnight last night racking up my brain trying to understand soul types. Regular souls, hatred souls, and pure souls. I was tempted to ask (Y/N) about it, but I knew she wouldn't have wanted to be bothered by schoolwork. She's been through so much and it would be selfish of me to add my problems to her already incredibly large pile.

The second I finished my work, I collapsed on my bed without putting any of my papers away. So, now, my desk is a mess of scrap paper, worksheets, pens, and highlighters.

I sigh and fix my untidy desk, placing everything in their right places, mind you, still eating my toast.

In the middle of cleaning, I hear footsteps outside pass my door. (Y/N) must be going downstairs now.

Another few minutes of cleaning later, my desk is organized and cleared. I check the weather forecast for the day, hoping that it would be clear skies. I sigh, looking at the weather. It'll be pouring soon and will stop at around four. On a positive note, maybe we'll see a rainbow in the late afternoon?

I slide on a thin coat and my backpack. A ding comes from my phone as I walk downstairs to put on my shoes. I watch (Y/N) walk out of the kitchen, chomping on an apple.

"The others are outside, by the way. We'll wait for you."

She nods her head and goes up while I head out the door.

Like always, BP and Undyne are having a petty argument over something insignificant and Skate is trying to calm them down. They stop momentarily when they see me but continue bickering right after. Skate sighs as her attempts to calm everyone fails.

She approaches me slowly like she's afraid or nervous about something.

"PJ?" She asks, a bit quieter than normal.

"Hm? What's wrong?"

"Nothing! Well, not about me anyway. It's about (Y/N)."

"What about her?"

"You haven't noticed how down she's been feeling the past two weeks?"

"No, I have. But I don't think it's my place to say."

"Oh, okay. I understand. I tried asking her about it, but she doesn't really want to open up."

"Well, I can't blame her for that. If it were me, I wouldn't want to say anything either."

"At least she's talking to someone about it. Still, I can't help but worry."

"I'm sure she'll tell you when she's ready."

"I hope so..."

We continue talking about (Y/N)'s situation until the door opens to reveal none other than the girl herself. A very tired-looking (Y/N), who looks dazed and paler than usual, stares at us as if she's in a trance.

The others seem to notice the negative energy radiating off of her and give nervous greetings. Undyne and BP even stopped their quarreling. She does the same and we start walking.

No one dares to break the silence, even though it's suffocating all of us. I can't tell what's worse, the fact that (Y/N) is feeling so down or the fact that no one knows how to react to this.

Thankfully, someone, namely (Y/N), is the first to speak up since no one else wanted to.

"Are you g-guys planning on switching any classes f-for the second semester?"

Skate is the first to answer. She goes on about switching up her schedule, but I can't pay attention.

I'm too busy looking after (Y/N), who looks like she could collapse at any moment.

I let her lean on me while we walk. She looks so miserable and I feel so incredibly bad...

* * * * * *

I take some time at lunch to conjure up a plan.

There's a small cafe near the school where we can get drinks and talk. She hasn't been saying much lately like she's bottling up her feelings. Poor girl...

After that, we could go to someplace special. Last week, I was wandering around and stumbled across a small clearing on the outskirts of the forest.

There were rivers and cherry blossom trees.

The beauty took my breath away in an instant and I knew it was a special place.

Maybe I could take her there! It seemed peaceful enough where she could talk about anything.

(Y/N) is next to me, keeping her head down probably trying to drown out the sounds of the noisy cafeteria. I contemplate whether or not I should disturb her, but I knew a distraction would be good for her in the end.

I gently rest my hand on her shoulder, to which she responds with a slight jolt. She looks up.

"Sorry, are you okay?" As I look at her, I observe the bags under her eyes. Must've not been sleeping well...

"Y-Yeah, sorry," I can clearly tell she's lying, but it would be better to save the conversation after school.

"How about I take you someplace after school? To try and take your mind off things," I smile slightly.

She seems to hesitate and think for a second before nodding.

"I'll tape a note to your locker at the end of the school day. Locations and details will be in there, alright?"

She nods again before a small ding comes from her phone. She glances over at another table and starts texting back.

After some time, she sighs, stuffs her phone in her pocket, and puts her head down again.

'Hopefully, this will go well.'

* * * * * *

???'s POV

As soon as the bell rings, I rush out of the door and into the mostly-quiet hallway.

"You know what to do," she hands me a folded up letter from around the corner and grins sinisterly.

Do I feel bad? Of course, I feel bad! But I had no other choice than to resort to playing dirty to make her like me...

When the devil herself first proposed the deal, I didn't know what to do. If I should accept or deny it. In the end, I had to accept it. There wouldn't be another opportunity like this and I need to take all the chances I can get.

The hallway is starting to slowly fill with students, but, luckily, I spot the right monster.

I "accidentally" bump into him, causing him to drop the original note on the floor near me. I quickly pocket it and hold out the swapped copy for him to take.

"Sorry about that, Fresh. Must've not been looking," he takes back the folded piece of paper.

"Oh no, don't worry about it..." I smile nervously.

"And I never got the chance to apologize for all the times I've picked on you...I'm really sorry about those times...But I've changed!"

'Oh my god, he's genuinely sorry! I feel so bad doing this now...' I internally scream.

"It's fine. And you seem genuinely sorry, so I'll forgive you," I accidentally let out a nervous chuckle for no reason. Might be from the fact that I'm trying to mask my insanely, unsettling guilt.

"Thanks a lot," he smiles. He starts walking past me but turns around the wave, "See you around."

* * * * * *

PJ's POV

I walk away from that small conversation and internally cringe from the awkwardness in the last few seconds.

'Stupid PJ.'

Before the convo, I was thinking of the new rumors floating around.

Monsters are gossiping about someone cheating. I'm usually on top of my game, so I need to know what's going on. But it shocks me a bit.

The story goes that I cheated on (Y/N) with...Bunny?? Who came up with this rumor? That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. Almost everyone knows that I'm not on the best terms with her considering how I rejected her that day in front of half the school. Anyway, after that, (Y/N) supposedly found out and started cheating too. This time with Frisk. But, knowing how serious she takes her promises, she would never do something like that.

To add to that, honestly, I'm still not comfortable around Fresh nor am I extremely comfortable with him being around (Y/N). But, as I said before, she promised and she never breaks them. I guess I have no other option than to trust her. And I do.

'Whatever.'

I shrug off my thoughts and just tape the note to her locker. All I have to do now is get to the cafe and wait. But, first, I need an umbrella.

* * * * * *

I've spent the last 50 minutes waiting at the cafe. What's taking her so long? Every time I try to call her, it rings and then goes to voicemail.

I've been patient this long and she hasn't shown up. Something must've happened to her.

I call her one last time. After just two rings, the call goes to voicemail.

'Did she just decline my call!?'

I call again, this time going straight to voicemail without any rings.

I stare at my phone in confusion before deciding to just find her at home.

The heavy downpour from before turned into a light drizzle, so I wouldn't need to open my umbrella again.

'What could've happened to her? Is she unwell? Must be that. Every time she walks, she's either stumbling and tripping or shuffling slowly. She probably went home to rest and fell asleep. Yeah, that's it. She has dark circles under her eyes. She must have gone home to rest,' I try reassuring myself, but something doesn't feel right. Like there's an empty hole in my soul.

I quickly hurry back to the house as the discomfort gradually rises. I fumble in my backpack for the keys and open the door.

In the living room, Dad is looking through a few art projects and grading them.

"Dad, is (Y/N) upstairs?" I ask, worry filling up most of my voice.

"No? You don't know?" He doesn't look up from his papers.

"Know what?" I brace myself for whatever he was going to say next.

"She moved out. Didn't she tell you?"

I am at a loss for words. The only thing that would come out of my mouth was a voice-cracked, "What?"

"She moved out," he simply repeated.

I could only stare at him in disbelief, "When?"

"This afternoon. She said she wanted more space to herself," he looks up from his papers, some concern in his eyes, "Is something wrong, PJ?"

"I—"

He pats the spot next to him and gestures for me to sit down.

"What happened?"

I join him on the couch and drop my backpack down beside me.

"I...I don't really know..."

"Tell me about it," he wraps an arm around my shoulder.

"To start off, there was this...rumor going around this afternoon...that I cheated, which is purely gossip because I would never!"

"Calm down, PJ. Breathe."

I take a moment to try and get a grip on myself before continuing,

"She supposedly found out and cheated on me too...And I planned to take her somewhere this afternoon, but...I got stood up. Then I come home and find that she's moving out? I don't know what to believe..."

"I'm sorry that so much is happening at once. But (Y/N) doesn't seem like the type of girl to cheat."

"You're right, she doesn't," I sigh and stand up, simultaneously grabbing my bag, "I'm gonna go to my room to clear my head."

"Talk it out with her, alright? Communication is key."

"I'll remember that. Thanks, Dad," I retreat upstairs and pass Cil's room, door wide open.

"Hey, PJ?"

"Ye—"

"Bro, you don't look so good—" he interrupts me.

"Sorry, just a bit stressed. Did you need something?"

"Actually, I just wanted to ask you about (Y/N)'s empty room."

"Yeah, she told Dad that she needed more space for herself."

"Oh, well, okay then. By the way, there's a note taped to your door? I don't know what it is though."

"Really? Okay, thanks."

I pass my door, ignoring the letter for a second, and open (Y/N)'s former bedroom.

Cil's right. It's empty. It doesn't look like it has been occupied for a few months. It looks completely untouched.

I step in and immediately notice a dark spot in one of the corners of the room. I get down and examine the spot.

It's a very dark crimson color, which could possibly be mistaken for a chocolate brown. But I knew what this was.

'Is it dried blood!? No wonder she's been feeling so terrible lately! She's not getting enough sleep and her soul is cracking again!'

But, alas, I couldn't find a way to contact her and it would be an invasion of privacy to use someone else's phone. I'll...find her tomorrow.

I pick up my bag and leave the room for mine. I take the note from my door and sit down on my bed to read it. My hands are shaky and I'm sweating buckets.

I swallow the lump in my throat and nervously unfold the note.

PJ,

So this is it, huh? I guess we really are breaking up then. The rumors. They were true.

I still love you. And I always will. But space between you and me will do us some good.

So this is my final goodbye.

I'm sorry I couldn't be better for you.

(Y/N)

"What!?" I practically shout, "No no no no. I misread it."

I reread it. Once. Twice. Thrice. And more. But, still, the result is the same.

My mind spirals out of control, to how our relationship built up.

"S-sorry..."

"P-PJ!?"

"...g-good night..."

"Y-Y'know...you actually h-have a pretty s-soothing voice."

"Y-Yeah...friends..."

"Alright, I'll forgive you for that on one condition."

"Can I get another kiss?"

"PJ, I'm not sure about being in the middle...I don't dance very well."

"It's okay, it's okay. I will never cheat on you. I promise."

"H-how did this h-happen...? How d-did I LET this happen!?

'She broke the promise...'

I put a hand over my eyes and crack a painful smile.

'No. She couldn't have.'

"Hah...hah..a.." The paper crinkles in my grip.

'She can't.'

"Ha..ah..." I'm drowning.

'She didn't. No no no.'

"Hah...ha..hahahaha..." The hole in my soul is ripping open more and more.

'The rumors were true!'

I snap back into reality and resist the urge to scream. Instead, I throw a pillow across the room and hold my head in my hands, dropping the paper on the ground.

'I can't believe that really happened. She's not the type of person to do that,' I do anything and everything in my power to deny it. But what's done is done. And there's nothing neither of us can do about it.

I watch my vision get blurry and some tears fall.

It's been a long while since I've cried. For a girl, no less. I've never cried for a girl since all the others only wanted me for attention or popularity. But (Y/N) wasn't like that. She saw the good in me when I knew myself that I was a bad monster. She fixed me and made me better.

And now, she's disappeared from my world.

~A/N~
In case you haven't already picked up, this is the same chapter as the last one, just in PJ's POV
Just for clarification
I hope you feel sad after reading those two chapters
Mwah ha ha—
Jkjk I don't wanna die for giving you guys all the angst qwq
Also, REEEEEEEEEEEEEE it's my birthday today (It's 12 am rn lol)

Word count: 2868 words (including A/N)

*nopes out*