Partner In Crime, I Suppose || William Afton

9

I woke up, warm. Wrapped in the arms of my best friend. I could stay in his arms forever; they made me feel safe. 

But we had work today. 

I sat up, breaking free of William's warm embrace and got out of his bed, walking towards the guest room where I had a pile of my clothes waiting for me. I'd been staying over at William's quite often to work on the restaurant, so I'd kept some of my clothes in his house. 

I popped on my (f/c) shirt and put on some black dress pants, tucking in my shirt and fastening my belt. 

Walking back into William's room I see him getting ready as well. 

"Good morning, (Y/N). How'd you sleep?" 

"I slept pretty good, very warm." I smiled. 

We walked down to the kitchen and I helped him make breakfast. We cooked some eggs for the three kids and set them on the table. 

Michael and Evan came out of their rooms upon smelling the breakfast we'd cooked them. They sat down at the table and waited patiently.

"Where's Lizzie?" Evan asked. 

"Is she not awake ye-" I was hit with sudden realization. 

How could I have forgotten yesterday's events!? 

I stared at the plate I'd made for Elizabeth. My nose stung and i struggled to hold back tears, not wanting to alarm Michael and Evan. 

"She must be asleep." William butted in, grabbing me tenderly by the shoulders.

I nodded stiffly. I sat in Elizabeth's chair and ate from the plate I'd prepared for her. "Can't let this go to waste!" I forced and smile and a laugh. 

Michael and Evan shrugged it off and continued eating. 

Once William and I had finished our food, we left for the diner. 

One month until the diner closes. 

"William, how are we supposed to tell them?" I asked as he opened the car door for me. 

"We'll find the right time." William replied. 

We drove in silence. I still couldn't get the image of Elizabeth's body out of my head. I doubt that William could rid his mind of that image as well. 

Her lifeless body, contorted in unnatural ways to fit into the tiny compartment in her stomach. Her skin, scraped and cut at from the sharp pieces of metal. 

I shivered thinking about it. William seemed to notice. 

He looked over at me, his empathetic look made me feel a little better. 

At least someone knows what I'm feeling, right? 

We arrived at the diner and stepped out of the car. I took in a big deep breath and exhaled, calming myself. 

William and I strode on into the diner to be greeted with Henry. 

"Hey guys! One more month 'till the new place is opened!" He cheered. 

"That's not something we're particularly happy about." William brushed aside his friend and began walking towards his office. I followed along. 

"I-I was thinking that we could have one last party for the diner?" 

"Yeah, sure. That sounds great." I said in a very non enthused tone. 

"Uh, I-I. N-uh-g." Henry stammered. "D-did I do something wrong?" 

William snapped his head back to glare at Henry. "No, nothing at all." He seethed. 

I followed William into his office and tried to calm him down. I rubbed his back and patted his shoulders. "He doesn't mean to hurt us, he's just trying to keep our spirits up..?" It came out more as a question than a reassuring statement. 

Maybe Henry's oblivious to how we feel. Maybe he doesn't see it the way we do: our livelihood, our dream since high school, sold so abruptly. 

I hugged William tightly. 

He huffed angrily but leaned into the embrace. 

"Why doesn't any restaurant we start work out?" He mumbled into the crook of my neck. 

"Maybe it's just not meant to be."