Me, writing a oneshot that's over 2,000 words?? More likely than you think.

Cross sat, alone as usual. Not that he really wanted to he alone, but at this point he had already come to terms with his position. He was to be alone forever, and ever. That is, until Ink returned, but honestly, that was the last thing Cross wanted right now. If he came back, oh, Cross would lose it. He would straight up punch that know-it-all happy artist right in the fucking face!

The sound of someone entering the universe tugged Cross out of his violent thoughts.

'If it's him, I don't want to deal with him. He left me here, all alone!' Cross thought, his expression morphing into a deep scowl at the thought of Ink existing.

The smaller turned around, and immediately anger and hate surged through Cross at the artist. He was supposed to help him, and then he left!

"Cross! It's been a while, huh!? Sorry! I kinda lost track of time, haha!" Ink chuckled, laughing loudly at the situation. But that's what he said last time, and this time, Cross wasn't going to fall for his tricks.

"Ink. So, you showed fucking face. Honestly, for a while I didn't want you to. But right now... Heh, I kinda needed this..." Cross stood up, summoning a glowing scarlet knife. Ink stared absentmindedly at the weapon, then he looked at Cross with confusion.

"What'cha doin'?" He inquired. "I mean, other than threatening me, of course! That part seems pretty obvious!" He pipped, seeming to be excited... Cross only growled, more hate coursing through his bones. How dare that artist stand there and laugh!? It made Cross all the more pissed off.

"Just. Shut. UP!" Cross yelled, making a dash towards the artist. Ink stood there, not making any small movements that would give away a plan to dodge Cross' obvious attack. Cross simply shrugged internally and jumped up, positioning his knife downwards and point in directly at Ink. As gravity began to push back down on the small skeleton, all of his remaining pent-up hate came out in a loud scream of anger and pain.

"Wow. You're the most hateful soul I've felt with in a long, long time," Ink's form quickly dissipates into black smoke and snakes. Cross jolts, letting his form drop. He then falls to the ground in a pained and messy heap, his knife skidding a few feet away from his body and glitching out of existence. Cross groaned from the pain the terrible landing gave him. While he was writhing in pain, dark and deep laughter rang out clearly throughout the empty universe. Cross quickly remembered that he wasn't alone. "That... Was pretty funny."

"Sh-shut up... You threw me off..." Cross hissed, but he made no move to get up and look behind him, which was where the voice was coming from. He was still in pain, but it had mostly numbed into a dull ache in most places where he hit the "floor" (if it could even be called that. It was indistinguishable from the rest of the white space). Not painful enough to remark vocally, but enough to where Cross decided to continue laying down. It was already established that whomever was talking to him had no intent to hurt Cross, otherwise they would have already done so. "Who are you, anyways? Why are you here?"

More laughter filled the silence. Cross narrowed his eyes. This was getting quite annoying... "I am merely someone who wishes to assist you. You seemed to be very, very angry at the Protector just now... To the point where killing him or at least severely damaging him appealed to you greatly. You hated him so, so much just now," The voice continued vaguely. This only annoyed Cross more. Forcing himself to move, he pushed his body off of the ground and quickly slid his sore legs under his body. He then leaned forward onto his arms and gave a rough shove off of the ground, the momentum pushing his body into a criss-cross sitting position. After the overly-laborious task of sitting up, Cross turned around and got a good look at the owner of the voice.

Cross was greeted by red eyes staring back at him from a shadowy frame. Whether or not it was actually solid was a mystery to Cross, and one he certainly didn't want to find out. Especially if it would involve touching the shadowy mockery of a skeleton. Cross squinted at the wispy shoulders, trying to gauge about how broad they were. He sighed, the shoulders telling Cross that the skeleton was male. They were wearing the typical Sans get-up, nothing new there.

"Staring is rude,"

"I'm trying to study you, hush up,"

"Are you done yet, because honestly, I'd like to get back to the conversation where I cleverly convince you to come with me."

"What, you're gonna take me to a wonderland or some shit? What's next, you're going to promise to never leave? Then you'll find someone better," Cross was now glaring at the skeleton as memories of Ink revisited his mind. "And then, when all is said and done, you'll leave," Cross spat out hatefully. "Am I getting this right so far?"

The wispy skeleton pretended to ponder Cross' question. "Hmmm... nope. Actually, you should have stopped at the first sentence. The second is for a commitment that I'm not sure you've quite earned yet," He winked at the smaller. "As for everything else... nah. Sounds pretty boring."

Cross could only state in shock. This skeleton he barely knew was already offering up a place to stay? For real? And... And he even said he would consider staying... Cross quickly shook his head. Was he really that desperate for social contact!? ... Yes, yes he was.

"I..."

"You?" The taller mocked playfully. Cross' blush grew darker as he glared at him.

"Would you really let me stay with you?"

"Yeah, sure. I don't really care much. Just as long as you don't get in the way," The male replied nonchalantly.

"... Okay, wow, rude. I'm not totally useless, you know. And also, ya gonna tell me your name or am I gonna have to start calling you " Random Asshole Whom I Live With"?"

"Pft. I kinda like that," He ignored Cross' horrified expression. "But my name's Hate. Nice to meet you, Cross." Hate extended his hand for the smaller to shake. Cross looked at the hand, then he grabbed it and shook it.

"I'm assuming you already know my name?"

Hate rolled his red eyelights in mock annoyance. "Obvio."

Cross' sockets widened at Hate's lax use of Spanish,but he simply shook it off. "Great. Can... Can we go now?" Cross' voice sounded light and nervous; he seemed almost afraid to ask if they could depart.

"Of course." Hate opened a portal to Nightmare's mansion, gesturing through it. "After you."

Cross blushed slightly at the kindness Hate was giving him, but he stepped through nonetheless. Hate followed closely behind, the portal closing behind the duo.

Cross looked around and gaped at what he saw.

He was currently standing in... Well, mansion would be an understatement. It looked more like a castle! The foyer alone was large enough to fit a sizable home within it! To the right wait a small three-person couch which was sitting in front of a fourty-five inch television screen. While he was drooling over the size of the grand home, Hate snickered from behind Cross, drawing the smaller's attention. "Upstairs. That's where my room is, follow me."

Cross nodded, tearing his gaze away from the living room and following the wispy taller. They walked down the halls, multiple paintings lining the walls. Cross noticed that there were many that depicted a bright yellow skeleton who stood next to a... Cross could assume it was another skeleton perhaps, but he couldn't quite tell due to the fact that the skeleton was torn up. The reoccurring sight made Cross shiver. "We're here."

"What?" Cross' attention was once again directed to Hate, who was standing in front of a simple wooden door. Hate scoffed and opened the door, walking inside.

"I said, "We're here." You really need to work on that attention span." Cross carefully followed Hate into the room, and he gasped at the luxury sight he was greeted with. There was a full sized bed, a large dresser, a door leading to what seemed to be a bathroom, and a large window depicting just how high up they were. When Cross looked, he gulped. He hadn't been this high up in... He couldn't even tell. Months? Weeks? Years? "Done staring out the window like a lost princess?"

"I- uh- Yes?" Cross stumbled over his words. Hate sighed, shaking his head.

"Oh well. Make yourself at home, Cross."

"You really mean that, right? You... This isn't some prank or joke?"

"Yes, dear stars, I wouldn't go through all of this just to say, " Hey, just kidding haha, go away!", now would I?"

Cross went silent, then he shook his head. "I suppose not."

"Well, then! That solves that." Hate made his way out of the room. "Get some sleep. You need it." He then left the room.

Cross took a moment to process what just happened, then he sighed. He kicked off his shoes and flopped onto the bed, a blush overtaking his skull as he thought about the skeleton who just let him sleep in his room. He really was in love, huh? Well, that was okay. He was actually fine with that, for once.

Cross smiled, sleep coming to him softly and naturally.

Fuuucckkk this has been haunting my drafts for soooo looonngggg-

~Lemon