I find myself waking up again but not to the alluring sound of birds or the morning sun pouring through my bedroom window on the surface. No, instead I stirred to an unknown source yanking away the warm comforters I had enwrapped myself in. The comforting scent of lavender and maple leaving me to be exposed to the wretched odor of iron. Replacing my newfound tranquility was utter darkness and pure undefined evil from a source I knew all too well.

She grins like the joker, the corners of her mouth abnormally stretching to prick her cheekbones. Her voice has progressively grown to sound like a bubbly, glitchy acidic set of nails on an old chalkboard.

I feel every muscle in my body stiffen and my teeth grinding together. I'd always known she wasn't the best of characters to be around, and I sort of guessed she was the aggressive type. But I never thought that a ghost could potentially do real harm to me. If she is even considered one anymore, I'm not too sure. As far as I am concerned she's all but just some restless spirit trying to find their way out of some afterlife limbo.

Or maybe she is...

Perhaps this horrid poltergeist is just trying to find a way to the other side by finishing the duties she couldn't in her previous life.

That thought put me in the position of pitying her. Then I remember how she had tried to kill me yesterday and cancel out that sympathy.

Her ruby red eyes fixed on me, Chara giggles. Her voice seemed to glitch out, almost like a computer sick with a virus. "Well shoot, you woke up after all! Good thing that smiling, shitface of a Guardian has a knack for green magic, I guess."

Chara enlaces her fingers with mine, casually pulling me up from my current position. I was lying down and now I was miraculously sitting up with my feet on the floor. How someone deceased could physically hold things scared me more than her presence altogether. She pats my cheek smiling.

"Afternoon, partner. Sleep well?"

I manage to find my voice before she can spit out anything she might have on her mind for me.

"I s-slept fine. Th-thanks. And.. what do you mean... Afternoon?"

My voice is hoarse, and my throat still burns from the inside and out thanks to Chara. Why am I even speaking with her right now? I can feel the claw-like scars in my neck, stinging but nowhere near as bad as before.

"You slept through the entire day. Congrats, idiot."

I roll my eyes, clenching my teeth and standing up with little effort. It really is a good thing G can heal. My guardian... I suppose I should thank him again later.

I stagger down the hallway and look over the railing to look toward the first floor of the house, into the living room. While leaning up against the wooden rails I feel cool air hit the skin of my bare legs. At first, I think nothing of it, but once it registers that my thighs were getting more breeze than usual my gaze shoots down to my clothes. I can feel Chara hover over my shoulder with her brow cocked, letting out a hum of interest.

"Say, Partner, did you choose that outfit yourself?"

She floats in front of me, drifting to the opposite side of the railing I was now grasping onto with both hands clenched. I feel a light blush cover my cheeks, teeth gritting. Holy crap. I know for a fact that I didn't dress myself. If that is the case then one of those two... Jesus Christ I'm going to bash one of their heads in...! "No. G and Papyrus did..."

"Well... It's not exactly a fashion statement if ya ask me."

She examines me in the oversized grey sweater, grinning as her face began to contort back to normal. Before I knew it I was back to looking into ruby eyes and staring at a seemingly normal girl with ginger locks and rosy cheeks. She giggles, covering her now soft smile- as if she was shy about it. Bull.

"You look like a wolf got to you! Hehe!"

I tense up again biting my inner cheek. Even when she's in a seemingly cheery mood I want to hurl. If I'd of had something to eat yesterday then maybe I would have.

In the midst of my fear, there's the sound of a door slamming shut. I jump back, nearly falling over into the wall behind me. Heart-stopping, adrenaline rushes through me and I make a U-turn towards the bedroom. Before I could get past the door frame a voice calls from the bottom of the stairs. "'Ey Doll, where ya headed in such a hurry?"

Reluctantly, I stop moving and slowly look over my shoulder. There, smirking up at me was none other than G as he pulled down the hood of his cloak.

"N-nowhere," I replied after a few seconds and began to sheepishly walk back, hearing Chara groan from behind me. I pay no mind to her mumbling even though I should have. "How was your day?"

"Good, considerin' Grillby let me come 'ome early from mah shift." He yawns, placing a hand on his hip and balancing his weight on one foot. He flashes a fake smile at me, making my skin crawl.

What is he up to...?

"How 'bout yours, Dollface?"

"Fine, thanks... Probably because I s-slept through m-most of it though." My voice was scratchy and dry still, but I didn't mind it as much as he had. His brow bones furrowed and a frown came to his mouth.

"Ya throat sore?"

I shake my head in response. "No, I feel much better, th-thanks."

"I don' buy it."

I sigh, walking alongside the railing and towards the top step of the staircase to look down at him. Taking a deep breath, I begin singing the notes I once learned for a choir warm up. "Do, re, mi, fa, so, la, ti, do~. See, I'm fine."

G stares at me with his 'Why'd you do that?' face, his left brow curved up and his right creased down. After a minute, he shakes his head, turning away from me and walking over to the couch.

"Wha' the heck are ya doin'?"

I smile sadly, recomposing myself as Chara hovers at my side, her arms crossed and looking the other way. I could feel the irritation emitting from her ghostly form, but chose to brush it off. "Nothing," I mutter, looking down into my lap, fists clenched in fear of his judgment. When he doesn't respond, I decided to speak a little louder. "I shouldn't have yelled at you the other night... I know you didn't choose me to be your Vigilant, and I know I'm probably what upset you. So... I'm sorry-"

"Stop. Jus' stop." He snaps and I feel his hand on my shoulder, squeezing it tightly for me to look up at him. I don't ashamed and worried for what insult he had for me next."You shouldn't be the one apologizing, Frisk. I should be. I was over-reacting and I took my anger out on you." He sighs, removing his hand from my shoulder and scooting away from me. He leans over, elbows on his knees and his large hands folding together, fingers pointing to the floor as he goes on.

"The truth is, 'm sorry. I didn' mean to upset ya, and I didn' mean to act like that. But ya gotta understand, all I've done since meeting ya is treat ya like trash, and lose mah temper around ya. No matter how I did it, I know I still hurt ya. But this whole time, I should've been protectin' ya... It feels like I-...It feels like I failed." He rubs his skull, frustrated "'M no good at this whole "protector" thing. No matter how hard I try to be, I jus' know 'm not."

I look at him through different eyes, seeing a peek of what was going through his head and finally understanding him a bit more than before... I liked what I saw much better than the G I first met in the Ruins. This G was seemingly much more kind and cared. That was more than anything I could ever ask of anyone. It was more than I had ever received, that's for sure. It was now that I realized, it wasn't the truth.

"You're wrong, G."

He looked at me from the corner of his socket, his yellow iris dim and lacking emotion. "What?"

"I said you're wrong. You're a wonderful protector, whether you would like to believe me or not."

"Explain?"

Determined, I sit up and slide my legs onto the couch, turning my body to face him and leaning forward. I place my hands on each side of his skull, forcing him to look at me.

"Before you even knew my name, the f-first thing you did was save me. When I ran away from you, before g-getting angry with me you attacked someone e-else. And in the bar, you were wasted but you still threatened to kill for me." Before I gave him time to process what I'd said, I sat up and pulled him into a hug. The first hug I'd willingly given to anyone for the longest time, who'd of thought it'd go to him? "I want you to be my guardian. I c-an't imagine any other doofus better for the job."

Cold phalanges hesitantly wrapped themselves around my back, giving me an awkward pat. "So, 'm a doofus now? That's pretty harsh, Vigilant."

My heart begins to swell with joy as I pull away, hands on his cheeks and a smile on my face "So you'll promise to stay with me?"

G chuckles, taking his hand and scruffing up the hair atop my head as if I were his chum. "Yeah, I guess. I promise I'll keep watching over ya scrawny butt."

"Thank you!" With one final hug, I release G and sit back down beside him, leaning my head against his arm while he reaches for the pack of cigarettes in his pants pocket.

"One more thing, Dolly." I peer up at him as he blows smoke from his nose while gazing down at me. I felt his fingers gently sliding across my neck, touching the scars lightly. "Are you okay with telling me what happened, yet?"

I wanted terribly to tell him. I trusted him, more than anyone right now. I knew he wouldn't believe me, but at the same time, he might. Yet, if I say a word, it'll probably be my last.

I feel Chara caressing the back of my neck with her sharp nails, slowly etching words softly into my skin.

Biting my lips, I shake my head and avoid looking into his eyes any longer. Luckily, he sighs and Chara vanishes. After a few short seconds of silent relief, G pets my hair, fixing it back to how it was before he messed it up and continuing to run his fingers through it delicately. He speaks again softly, calming me into a sleepy trance.

"Aight' Doll. I respect ya privacy. Jus'... don't scare me like that again, got it?"

Before I could answer the room went dark and I'd passed out once again.

God freaking dang it, man!