The Fall of the Aftons

011: William Afton

Three weeks had passed since Lillith died. William felt terrible. He hadn't eaten properly in four days, he barely slept anymore, and everything was super busy at Fredbear's since it was meant to open in just under two weeks. Currently, he was helping Henry by putting one of the springlock suits onto the first and best-working Fredbear endoskeleton. Tomorrow was when the nearby adoption center--the one Michael was staying at--came to visit and try everything out. The arcade games, the food, and how well the animatronics functioned. It was exciting and nerve-wracking at the same time.

"William!"

He jumped back, landing hard on his feet. The springlocks in the exoskeleton glove he was holding snapped and shuddered with mechanical strength. He felt a sob rise up in his throat, but he quickly swallowed it back down. He hated how sensitive he'd become recently. The lack of sleep and proper nutrition was getting to him. Messing with him.

"Will, I called your name six times. Are you sure that you're okay?" Henry asked. William felt that sob rise back up his throat. "You've been acting weird the past few days. What's going on?" 

William exhaled a wobbly breath. He stepped forward to the endoskeleton and slipped on the fuzzy, yellow glove onto the half-naked skeleton. Once he was done winding the springlocks open and activating them to lock into place, he felt Henry wrap around him in a comforting hug. He tried to explain what had been going on that was making him act like this, but his words caught in his throat and he made a strangled sound instead.

"You're stressed out, aren't you?" Henry asked as he turned William around to face him. "Have you been sleeping? You've got huge bags under your eyes."

William shook his head, bent down, and sat criss-cross on the floor. He propped his arms on his knees, resting his head in his hands. He watched as Henry sat on his knees, cautiously watching his every movement. Henry took his hands out from under his head and wrapped his own hands around William's.

"What's going on? You know that you can tell me. I won't tell anyone."

William looked Henry in the eye, then looked around to see if any employees were around. He took a deep breath and said, "Terrance has been having a hard time getting adjusted to the house. So I've been staying up every night, working on paperwork at the desk in his room until he falls asleep around midnight. He eats more than I do, so I've been eating less so he can eat more. And I--"

"Slow down! You're rambling again. You always do when you're nervous. But why are you nervous?"

He turned his neck and stared at the endoskeleton through the corner of his eye. There were so many more suit pieces to put on-not to mention that he hadn't even started on the heavier pieces yet. He normally saved those for last.

"William, look at me."

He reluctantly looked at Henry, but instead of seeing pity as he expected, he only saw sympathy in Henry's kind, gentle yet sharp features.

"Look. I'm going to sleep over at your house tonight. You can eat any amount of food that you want, then you can go to bed and sleep in as much as you want. Okay? I'll watch over Terrance. You do whatever you need to do."

He nodded his head, a slight smile curling on his lips. Henry give him his most beautiful grin, the same grin that always sent his heart into the way-too-familiar flurry of flutters that he abhorred. Abhorred because people like him weren't allowed in the terrible culture of the United States.

~ ~ ~

William woke up in a cold sweat, the scream from his nightmare following him to reality. He glanced at his clock. 2:54 in the morning. Way too early to be up. But he was too restless to go back to sleep. He was worried that the terrible dream he had about everything going wrong when the restaurant opened would follow him back to sleep.

He sighed, then fumbled his way out of his small bed. He left his bedroom and checked on Terrance, who was sleeping peacefully in his new room. But suddenly someone touched his shoulder and he flinched. He turned around and flailed his arms to hit whoever touched him.

"Owww!" Henry whisper-shouted, stepping into the light coming from the window at the end of the short hallway. The pale moonlight revealed him, his back to the shadows. He was cupping his nose with one hand, holding out the other with a sort of disgust as a thin, straggly line of blood fell to the hardwood floor.

"Oh, shoot! Henry, I'm so sorry!" William whispered loudly as he closed Terrance's bedroom door and turned on the hallway light. He reached out to his friend to help, but Henry swatted his hand away. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean--"

"No, it's my fault. I shouldn't have snuck up on you like that." Henry chuckled quietly, but William still apologized three more times as he helped him stop his bloody nose.

~ ~ ~

"Are you ready?" Henry asked as the two of them watched the small bus pull into the parking lot, filled with the kids from the adoption center. 

William wasn't ready. He was terrified. He was horrified that everything was going to go wrong. But he smiled and told his friend, "As ready as I'll ever be!"

The kids came pouring out of the bus the minute it put on the brakes. He and Henry shoved the doors open, welcoming and greeting the younger kids and the older ones following after them. As each kid came in, William quickly glanced over them as he looked for Michael. But he didn't see the little boy. Had Michael already been adopted? As soon as most of the kids had made their way inside, he looked to the bus. Michael was sitting on the ground, his legs extended in front of him as he clutched something close to his chest. He looked as if he was ready to cry. His crutches were both on the asphalt, too far away for him to reach. William rushed out of the building and over to him. He picked the boy off of the ground and rested him on his hip as a little girl walked over, wielding Michael's small crutches.

"Michael, who is this?" the girl asked, pointing an accusatory finger at William. 

"Don't worry, young one. He knows who I am. I'm not kidnapping him," William quickly assured her with a slight chuckle in his voice. "I'm William, one of the owners of this place." He smiled, then focused on the little boy. "Is she your friend?"

Michael nodded his head, then rested his head on William's shoulder.

"He hasn't been sleeping very well," the girl said, her gaze fixated on Michael. "Some of the older kids keep scaring him awake in the middle of la noche. They do it every time there's a new kid, or so I've heard." She frowned. "He needed eight of my stuffies last night to try to sleep and he still barely slept. Restless all night, screaming every time he woke up. It was terrible."

William heard Michael's soft snores, just a little quieter than Henry's. He slept so peacefully in his arms. He never wanted to let the boy go. Michael seemed to have a sense of serenity as if he knew that he was safe. William didn't want him to worry about cruel boys waking him up every night.

"Let's head inside, okay?" William suggested kindly, turning to face the girl better. He smiled broadly, and she returned a small grin. They both went inside, the girl still holding the crutches as William held Michael on his hip. As soon as they entered the building, the girl dropped the crutches on the floor and ran over to the stage, amazed at the near-fluid movements of the animatronics. William chuckled, proud of Henry's hard work on the endo and exoskeletons.

"There you are! I've been looking everywhere for you!" Henry called from behind William. William turned around, greeted by his friend's smiling face. "Oh, would ya look at that, you already stole Michael again."

"I didn't steal him," he grumbled in reply. "I took him out of a dangerous place and got him medical treatment. You would've done the same thing in my position."

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say," Henry joked, laughter filling his words. He bent down a little bit to look at Michael better. He pointed at whatever was in the little boy's hands and asked, "What's that?"

William shrugged.

"It looks like one of the Fredbear plushies we have at the prize desk," he muttered.