Late-Night Date

You and Asriel both let out a sigh as you comfily sink into your seats, your vehicle once again situated in the local McDonald's parking lot. The sun had set not terribly long ago as you enter the early ours of night. You should probably be asleep soon, but you hastily push those thoughts aside- They don't matter when you're with this goat.

"Man, it's a good thing we got out of there." Asriel jokes as he rummages through the food bag for his order. "Things were getting pre-tty heated."

"You're telling me!" You chuckle. "Berdly was about to rip that guy's throat out when he said he forgot to do his end of the project!"

A white-furred hand holds the bag out to you, it's owner too consumed by laughter to say anything. You smile as you take it- It always felt good to make Azzy laugh. He had a characteristic snicker that was always a joy to hear out loud. Hell, if you didn't know him any better, you might even say it sounds evil!

But as you both pop the straws into your dollar sodas and dig into your dollar-menu food, another feeling rips it's way through your heart. Guilt.

"Ah, Anon. Anon?" Your beloved's voice is enough to bring you back from contemplating emotions. "..You good?"

"Wha- Yeah! What's up?"

Asriel sideyes you as he leans back in his seat, but after a quick shrug he closes his eyes to relax. "I was just thinkin', and.. It's really been awhile since we've been able to do this, hasn't it? Just the two of us? It's nice."

There it is again. That pang of guilt. Your gaze shoots forward out the front window. A hand subconsciously drifts towards the steering wheel before you, your grip so stressed that your knuckles are starting to go white. "Yeah.."

There's a sudden weight on your shoulder. You don't have to look to know it's Asriel's hand.

"Come on, Anon.." He sighs, lowering the volume of the dad rock that Mr. Dreemurr had gotten you into. "You know I can always tell when somethin's wrong with you. And I doubt it'll get better by keeping it all bottled up, dork~."

Dork. Ever since you'd met, Azzy has loved to tease you with bully names like that. And although you know he'd never say it in a mean-spirited way, that he was always joking around with you, sometimes you couldn't help but feel that he *should* mean it. That you didn't deserve to have someone like him act so kind towards you.

"..You remember when we first started going out? And your mom would take us to that fancy restaurant almost every weekend?"

Asriel momentarily breaks his supportive character to let out a subdued snicker. "Yeah- She was so ecstatic that I was going out with someone who wasn't failing their classes for once, she wanted to make absolutley sure I didn't fuck it up. Oh, mom.."

You smile as you recall a conversation you'd overheard before one of those dates. Ms. Dreemurr was one of the nicest people you'd ever met, but that isn't to say she couldn't be strict at times.

"This is the first time you've ever dated *anyone* who isn't a fuck-up left, right and centre!" You remember hearing her say. "I haven't the faintest idea what Anon sees in you. But you had better make sure that they keep seeing it!"

"Moom!" Asriel had cried out. Hearing him groan like that was just too much- It was there that you broke into laughter and revealed that you were listening in, resulting in a very embarrassed pair of Dreemurrs at dinner that night. That was one of the various occassions where you got to tease Azzy around for a change.

But it isn't long before your smile vanishes again. "Well.. those dinners didn't stop when you eventually told your mother off. We still went to a nice place every now and then."

Asriel's eyes go wide. Which is not what you were expecting. "Aw- Jeez, I-I'm sorry!" He panics. "When I said 'Let's hit up Micky D's' I just said it because it was close! I-I didn't know you still wanted to go to fancy spots-"

"No, you idiot!" There were tears welled up in your eyes now. Asriel was always so quick to blame himself, and you always felt awful every time you inadvertently made him do it. It was always you. Your fault. "That's not what I'm saying at all! It's that.. Every time we went somewhere nice, it was always you footing the bill. No matter how much I protested you always wanted to do it.."

Asriel sat back in embarrassed silence as he waited for you to go on. Clearly he wanted to let you explain rather than jump to another conclusion. You look over and catch him taking a nervous sip from his soda and can't help but give him a small, somber grin.

"It's that.. We've gone out to so many places. Done so many cool things together! And.. Now that we're here, and we're having our first date in days, all I can offer up is dollar menu food. I can't shake this feeling that I don't deserve you. At all."

There's an awkward silence for a moment before you notice Asriel slowly raising his hand.

"..Can it be my turn to call you an idiot now?" He asks in a very meek voice.

You blink.

"Anon.. Did.. Did you think I was robbing convenience stores or something for you? I mean, I would-"

"Azzy!"

"What?" The goat grins. "I'd do anything for you! Really! But.. I didn't pay for those dinners."

You raise your eyebrows at him. "Then how..?"

Asriel sighs. "When I told my mom off, she only agreed on the condition that I kept taking you to nice places whenever the oppurtunity arose. So I did. She practically rammed money down my throat to spend on us."

"T-That doesn't change the fact that I couldn't have afforded that! I'm awful.." You bury your head in your hands.

"Hey-" Azzy takes hold of your arms and gently pushes them aside so he can look into your tear-dazzled eyes again. A part of you wants to look away, but you know there's nothing you'd rather do than match his caring, dark gaze. "We're in college! I don't have mom's money anymore- We're both broke! It's part of being here! And you know what? If I've gotta be poor, and you've gotta be poor, then I'm happy we can shove through it together. As long as I'm with you? I could live in a box and be happy."

You sit at a complete loss for words. There's a part of you that still wants to cry out that you don't deserve Asriel's comfort. His selflessness. His kindness. But you know he's right; The two of you are in this together now.

So screw words. You take hold of his fuzzy white face and bring it to yours, muffling a surprised gasp from him by locking lips. He's always been quick to adapt, though- Within a few moments he's kissing you back just as passionately as you're kissing him. After a couple of seconds you pull away, ashamed that you would take advantage of a moment like that to kiss him, but Azzy is all smiles in the other seat.

"I take it that's your way of saying 'Me too'?" The goat teases.

"Yeah." You smile back at him and take hold of his hand. His fur was always so warm.

For a time it's just the two of you sitting in silence in your car, fingers locked, staring out the front window at the emerging stars in the night, a quiet guitar riff in the background, punctuated by the occasional sip of soda or bite of food. This was bliss. You'd stay like this forever if given the choice.

"You have no idea how much I hate to interrupt this," Azzy nervously scratches the back of his head. "But ah, did we decide what we were gonna do about Berdly?"

You shoot a wide-eyed look at your boyfriend, and suddenly your car is filled with laughter. The two of you will figure it out- Eventually. And with Asriel at your side, you're sure you'll figure out the rest of college too.

END