Promise Me - A Michael Afton x Fem Reader story

Chapter 38 - Good or Bad News?

CW: Mention of heavy topics
A/N - Chapters a bit shorter than usual, but enjoy anyway!
———————————————————————————

It's a Sunday night: 9:00 P.M., Henry sits at his desk in his home office, bouncing his leg up and down quickly and tapping his pen against his note book that he's had since his college days. He stares down at the various notes and sketches in blue and black ink- he has been for twenty minutes. "...I've got to tell him at some point..." he mumbles to himself. He sets down the pen, letting it roll across the desk and pushes his chair out, getting up with a sigh.

He comes to the living room, where you and Michael are on the couch watching television. The both of you look up at him with curiosity; his facial expression is a mixture of worry and concern, something henry doesn't show often. Henry has always showed his more positive, fun sides around you guys, and around the little ones when they were still alive. However, it became one of his top priorities after the deaths of the children. Not only did the kids, including Michael and yourself, look up to Henry and see him as a father figure, Henry sees himself as a father figure to them and you as well. Making sure he put on a positive front during those hard times was (and still is) a must for him. You guys were young when those tragic events happened, you've both experienced traumatic events other children couldn't of even imagined at the time, so making sure you and Micheal had something to look up to- something positive, in those hard times was his priority. Even though those events happened years ago, it is still something Henry does. You both might be seventeen already, but that doesn't mean your lives aren't still hard or sad at times: the trauma doesn't just go away like magic after all. Henry being that figure to look up to helped the both of you tremendously, without him who knows where you'd both be right now.

Henry sits himself down into the armchair, causing it to make a small creaking sound due to its old age. The two of you watch him carefully as he does so, it's very apparent something's not right.

Micheal reaches for the remote and mutes the t.v.
"What's wrong?" He asks, recognizing something is on the man's mind. Henry sighs and rests his elbows on each of the arm rests. He pinches the bridge of his nose with one hand while letting the other lay there loosely. "Michael, your father.... How do I put it..." Michaels eyes widen and he sits up straight at the mention of his father, who's been surprisingly quiet ever since he left.

Williams silence has actually been better for Michael. He's been able to focus on other things and most importantly himself without having to really worry about his father that much. The only thing, though, is that not only Michael, but Henry, and yourself can't help but think his silence is somewhat menacing: like he'll come out of the blue when you all least expect it, or that he's maybe planning something of some sort to perfection- it's the fear of the unknown that's been making everyone a little on edge, especially because William has a tendency to be unpredictable and hard to read.

"Your father kind of...." Henry starts again, shifting in his chair. "He.... Disappeared?" He says more of like a question rather than a statement.

Both you and Michael just blink at Henry, processing what he had just said. "Wait," Michael speaks up first. "He disappeared? What do you mean?"

"Well, about two weeks ago he stopped coming into work which is strange for him- he very rarely takes off and if he does he always calls me to let me know, which he hadn't done. The first week I figured he was just sick or something and forgot to call. I called a few times throughout the week and he didn't answer, but I tried not to think much of it. When it got to Tuesday of the following week I decided to check on him at the house, but nobody was home and his car was gone. I went back every day the rest of the week before and after work- but he was never there. I've asked other workers if they've seen or heard anything from him but they haven't.... He's just gone"