A Date with Susie

You would've slept all day if you could.

Because after Susie left last night, you ended up awake until dawn, convinced that she was waiting just outside your house somewhere, lurking among the trees.
In fact, it's dark by the time you finally wake up, and the only reason you do is Toriel furiously pounding on your bedroom door.
"Kris, dear, someone's at the door! It's your friend, from school!"

You bolt upright in bed, still clutching the new note in hand.
"7pm. Behind the Diner. Don't be late."
'Don't be late' in particular was written in large, jagged letters.

According to your cellphone, it's currently 7:30.

*You tell Toriel that you'll be out in a second.

"Oh good! I was worried you were still asleep." You resist the urge to tell her that you were as she pads back down the hall.

You've still got your shoes on, so you waste no time getting out of bed, and rushing to the door. Sure enough, Susie's looming in the doorway when you get there. It's only now that you realize she's almost as tall as Toriel herself.
She doesn't say anything when she sees you. She only waves.
Without warning, Toriel eagerly begins ushering you towards the door.
"Well, you kids have fun! Don't stay out too late!" Before you know it, you've been swept out of the living room, onto the porch, and the front door slams shut behind you.

There's a long, tense silence. You can't see her eyes, but you know Susie's staring at you under her messy brown hair.
And then, she speaks.
"You weren't trying to avoid me, were you Kris?"
You shake your head as quickly as possible. She only holds her stare for a moment, before finally breaking out into a soft smile.

"Good. Don't let it happen again." Without warning, the lizard takes hold of your hand, and starts to lead you down the sidewalk. She's much more gentle than she was the night before, but still firm. Truth be told, you were absolutely hoping to pretend you hadn't seen the note. But it's too late now.
In a few minutes, you reach the Diner. But instead of going through the front door, she leads you out back.
Only now do you remember the note saying 'Behind the Diner.' You give Susie a questioning glance, and she shrugs in response.
"We forgot to pay last time. I'm banned from the Diner now, which was the last restaurant left in town." She pumps her fist like this is some sort of achievement. You both giggle a little bit as you follow her into the dim alleyway.

There's not actually much behind the Diner aside from a few old crates, a dumpster, some graffiti...

...and a 'Missing' poster about Noelle.

You try to ignore the poster, and continue into the alley.

Susie sits down on one of the old hamburger crates, before pulling what appears to be two messily wrapped sandwiches out of her coat pockets.
"I managed to nav some leftover burger meat from one of the cooks. Don't ask how." She tosses you one, and even though it's between two normal pieces of wheat bread, it smells just like the burgers the Diner serves. It tastes the same too as you bite into it.
Susie looks toward you expectantly, and you give her a thumbs-up in response.
She grins, biting into her own sandwich.
"Glad you like it. Wasn't easy to come by."

A few minutes pass in silence, save for the sound of chewing. It's a fairly large sandwich. You're trying your best just to keep the other end from spilling onto your shirt. But for someone Susie's size, it's gone in a few bites. You pause briefly as she picks a bit of meat out of her dagger-like teeth. She notices your stare after a moment, and flashes you a toothy smirk.
"Something wrong?" She leans forward on her crate, stopping just infront of your face.
You wipe the sweat off your brow, and go back to eating. Susie laughs, and you can't help but laughing a little too.

"You know Kris, I'm really sorry about last night. I didn't mean for it to go the way it did."

*You tell Susie that you'd rather not talk about last night.

"Good idea. We'll pretend the whole thing just never happened. Start from scratch."

You nod, and she finally leans back. Her smile isn't menacing, lopsided, or otherwise abnormal. It seems genuine.
Eating homemade burgers in a dingy alley isn't usually your standard date material, but you realize now that that's exactly this is.
It's a date.

You're grateful that the alley is dark, so that Susie probably can't see you blushing.

The moment's utterly ruined as you cough suddenly, spitting out a wad of chewed up hair.

Forgetting about your last few bites of sandwich, you examine the soaked hair. At first you think it might be yours, but it's a pretty big chunk. You would've noticed if that much had fallen off so quickly.
Could it be Susie's?
Your train of thought is interrupted as it's quickly ripped from your hand, by none other than the monster herself.
"Sorry about that. Me and my hair." But as she holds it next to her own, you can see that they don't match. It's hard to tell in the dim light, but it almost looks...blonde?

You're frozen on the spot.
It's not her hair.
It's Noelle's.

You're not eating hamburger meat.

You feel sick. Like you're about to spit your guts out any second.
You can't help but hunch over, trying your best not to hurl all over the alley floor. A hand presses against your back. Susie's hand. You try to run, but she grabs onto your jacket, and tosses you back into the alley.
She watches silently as you crawl away, backing yourself further and further into a dead end.
"Going somewhere, Kris?" Her words are slow and deliberate. You didn't realize how cold it was back here until just now.
She steps forward, and the gap between the two of you shrinks.
"I thought we were friends. Friends don't run from eachother, Kris. Now do they?" Another step. She's getting closer.

You look wildly around the alley for something to defend yourself with. But there's nothing,

When you look back up, Susie's on top of you. And in a second, you're being lifted off the ground, and slammed into the wall.
"You know what pisses me off even more than silent people, Kris?"
There's a pause, and she tightens her grip just a little.
"Do you?"

You shake your head frantically in response.

"Runners." She slams you into the wall again, and you cough. A little bit of pit dribbling down your chin.
"I could deal with the silent treatment. I was willing to do it for you. But I can't let you just run out on me. That's not what friends do. And we're still friends, right?"
You don't answer.
"RIGHT?" She slams you into the wall again. You can see her eyes through the wild bush of hair. They're narrow, and bloodshot. Like she hasn't slept in days.
She finally drops her gaze, speaking in a resigned voice.
"You just really know how to push my buttons, don't you Kris?" There's more silence.
"...I'll have to get rid of you too, won't I?"

*You tell Susie that it doesn't have to be this way.

"Oh, but it does. If I can't even trust you to keep quiet, I can't trust anyone."

*You tell Susie that you won't tell anyone.

"Don't lie to me, Kris." You cough up a bit of blood as you impact the stone again. "You're not a good liar."

*You tell Susie that all she has to do is put you down.
*And then you can both go home.

She doesn't respond. She doesn't slam you into the wall either. She just stands there, her grip quivering.
And then, she drops you.

Susie drops to her knees in front of you, covering her face with both hands.
It almost looks like she might be crying.

You reach out, and put a tentative hand on Susie's shoulder. She takes her hands away from her face, and gives you a small smile.
"You know what else pisses me off about you, Kris." She sniffs. "You're too damn nice."

*You tell Susie that this is just what friends do.

"Yeah. I guess you're right."



It's a long walk home. Susie isn't walking at nearly her normal speed, and you made sure to wipe any remaining blood off before getting home.
You knock, and the door clicks open. Toriel stares down at you with a look of delight.
"Kris, you're back! Did you two have fun?"

You nod, and the goat seems contented with your answer.

She steps aside so that you can come in, but you pause in the doorway.

*You ask Toriel if Susie can stay the night.

She looks between the two of you with a motherly suspicion, but her excitement at the thought of you making friends seems to win out.
"Alright, but our guest will have to sleep on the couch. Now come inside before the Pie gets cold."

Susie perks up immediately at the word 'Pie', and walks inside ahead of you.

Despite how things were going just moments ago, you find yourself smiling.

*G O O D   E N D