DT Serum, Primary Testing In Progress

"If, uh, you want, I don't mind if you crash on the couch." Kat offered. "It's not the safest on the streets alone at night..."

True looked at her, smiling, but shook his head. "I couldn't inconvenience you like that. Thank you, though, I appreciate it."

"It really wouldn't be any trouble, but I understand." Kat said kindly. "If you ever are in need of it, my couch is open to you." She stood to at least walk him out of the building.

True waved her down. "Rest! It's late. I can see myself out." He wheeled himself to the door and worked it open flawlessly. "Thank you again, Kat. I'll call you when I can figure out about the song and recording it?"

Kat smiled. "Okay. Bye True!" She called as he left. She locked the door behind her before she changed into her night clothes and just laid on her bed. She thought a long, long time before she turned off the light and tried to get some sleep.

True wheeled along at a steady pace, careful not to garner any more attention than he needed to. He was exhausted by the time he got to the lab. He didn't even try to get undressed, instead just dragged himself into bed and passed out on top of the covers. He didn't want to think any more.

In the morning, Kat got up and got a cup of tea in her before she started to think some. She smiled at a thought. She got out her phone and texted True.

~Hey, don't know if you're up yet, but if you wanted, it'd be okay by me if you wanted to come over. Maybe we can practice some songs ~

True groaned as his phone rang, waking him. He pulled his pack out from under himself and peered at his phone. Oh, okay, text, he could do that. He was half way through his text when he saw the date. His phone fell from his fingers, bouncing on the bed. That day again. He deleted the message and pushed his phone away, pressing his face into his pillow.

Kat waited for a reply. She didn't mind. Some people woke up later than others.

Gaster woke up the boys and told them that this day would be their last day in this house. He got them in the UHaul with him and started to move boxes into the new house before he returned and started to get some of the furniture moved as well.

Moving day. He should go help move. But he couldn't, not today. Not today of all days. True stayed in bed unmoving, ignoring his phone and everything around him, keeping the blinds closed so his room stayed dark. Let them move without him. Let her make sweet music without him. They wouldn't care.

After a while, Kat started to worry a little. She got dressed and went to the Gaster household. She talked to Gaster about her concern, and Gaster called True.

True moved enough to silence his phone then tossed it away. Luckily, his phone was one of those cheap ones that didn't have much to offer service wise, but you could drive over it and it wouldn't break, so it just bounced into a corner.

Gaster became a bit worried then and tried to call again. When he got no answer, he, Kat, Sam, and Paul went to see if he happened to be at the lab. Gaster knocked on the door. "True? True, are you in there? We just want to make sure you're okay."

Kat bit her nails nervously. She was freaking out, her mind blaming herself. She thought he might have gotten hurt last night going home, and it was all her fault for not being more stubborn on making him stay.

True turned his back on the door, putting a pillow over his head. Just go away and leave me alone. Give me this one day of misery. Just one day a year, that's all he ever asked for to allow the deep depression and misery to overwhelm him and allow himself to wallow in the dispair.

Gaster, just being concerned, unlocked the door and came in. He sent Paul and Sam downstairs to wait in his office for now. Kat followed Gaster and looked around. Gaster found True in his room. "Oh thank god, you're okay." He then noticed his body language. "True, what's wrong?" Kat tried to poke her head in, but decided to wait in the living room for now. Gaster sat on the edge on True's bed.

"I don't want to talk about it," True mumbled into his pillow. "Go away."

Gaster frowned. "I will not. Not unless you give me a very good reason as to why you are acting like this. If it is a damn good reason, I will leave you alone for today."

He didn't want to talk about it, but by know he knew Gaster meant what he said. "I want to be alone and miserable," he finally muttered.

Gaster sighed and shook his head. "Wallowing in misery isn't healthy. You need to learn to let go whatever is bothering you and learn to move on." He paused a moment before he looked at True. "Do you remember the day we met? I remember it well. I also remember the day exactly five years prior to that even more vividly. It shattered me, but I learned to move past it. You are better and stronger than this, True. I don't care if you want to turn this day around or not, but I am not leaving you alone today."

True tried to press his face into the pillow harder, his voice barely audible now. "I can't! Today I killed my Mom!"

Gaster's face softened and he rubbed True's back. "True... please talk to me about it more. You know you can trust me." He sent a quick text to Kat to wait in his office as well. She did not need to hear this. Not yet at least. If True decided to tell her, that was his business, not his.

True shifted a little toward Gaster but wouldn't look at him yet. "I was born," he said quietly, despair in his eyes. It always surfaced today, on the anniversary. "It made her sick. She carried my older brother just fine, but I made her sick. She died on my birthday one year later from complications. She couldn't... I killed her."

Gaster shook his head. "It was nothing you did. My wife was the same. She took Paul's birth quite hard, and even went into cardiac arrest during labor. She was more frail after that, and a little over two years after Paul was born, she got sick. Really sick. She knew if she didn't have Paul, she wouldn't have gotten that bad, but she told me something on her deathbed I will always remember. She said that she was so proud of her family and her sons, and she wouldn't change a thing if she could do it all again." He rubbed True's back. His voice got softer. "True, I am willing to bet money your mother loved you a lot. More than most anything. And if she was anything like my wife, she would want you to be able to move on. She would want you to make her proud every day, and move forward every day." Gaster sighed a little and shook his head, still rubbing True's back.

True's breath hitched in his throat, and he rolled over to look at Gaster, his blue eyes desperate and searching. "What if she didn't want me?" he whispered. I don't remember her touch, not being held by her, nothing, and there's not one picture of her and me together. Her after, but none of me. What if she hated me like... He did?"

"Then it still doesn't matter." Gaster said firmly. His gaze was unwavering and steady. "Because I want you as a son. Believe it or not, a mother right after she gives birth immediately starts to develop what most call a mothering instinct. It harkens back to when we lived in a much wilder world. It allows a mother to make a deep bond with her child, and want to protect them. That alone makes me doubt she ever hated you, True."