Michael Afton x Reader (The Return/Stay By My Side 2)

Chapter 7: One Thing After the Other

Michael's POV:

    While driving home, I felt sick. Tonight did not go well... at all. And I was starting to think that y/n was right.

    I desperately hoped she wouldn't ask me about it. I didn't want to admit to her what really happened.

    I wasn't sure why. But I was too nervous to admit the truth to her.

    By the time I got home, it was about 6:30 AM. I walked inside and locked the door behind me. I then headed towards my bedroom, expecting to see y/n asleep. But she wasn't. She was wide awake with the nightstand lamp on, reading a book.

    "Hey, what are you doing awake?" I asked. "You have work in just a few hours, shouldn't you be sleeping?"

    "I couldn't sleep," she admitted. "So I decided to read to pass the time."

    "You never have trouble sleeping though," I said as I took off my hat and tie and placed them on the chair next to the door. I walked over to the bed and sat down next to her. "The only time you ever have a hard time falling asleep is when something is bothering you."

    She shrugged. "I guess so."

    "Well, is something bothering you?"

    "Not really. I just wanted to finish up this book," she said. But I knew she was lying.

    "Really? You were staying up because you wanted to finish reading the book?" I repeated.

    "What can I say? It's a good book."

    I sighed. "Y/n, I know you were worried about me. But you don't have to stay awake waiting for me to come home, y'know."

    "I know that," she said dully, looking back down at the book. I put my hand on the side of her face and turned her head so that she was looking at me.

    "You shouldn't be missing sleep just for me."

    She sighed. "I'm sorry."

    I smiled. "It's alright. I just don't want you to be sleep deprived."

    She gave me a smile in return. "I'm just glad you're safe."

    "Yeah... me too," I agreed somewhat uneasily.

    "Did anything... strange happen tonight?" she asked.

    "Strange?"

    "Yeah. You know, like were the animatronics acting weird or anything?"

    "Uh, well, n-no. I guess not," I stuttered nervously. "No, they were all acting normal. It was just like any average night at work."

    "Oh... alright. That makes me feel better."

    "Yeah. I told you I'd be alright, didn't I?"

    She gave me a tired smile. "Yeah. I guess so."

    "But now that I'm here, why don't you say we get some sleep?"

    She gave me a small nod and leaned against me. "Gladly."

•••

    "You made a big mistake, Michael. You have no one to blame for this but yourself..."

•••

    RING RING RING

    I groaned, not opening my eyes. I turned away from the nightstand where my phone was going off and extended my arm out to wrap it around y/n. But the bed was empty.

    "Y/n?" I called out tiredly, finally opening my eyes, only to see that she wasn't there.

    That's right. She was at work. I had almost forgotten.

    I turned back to the nightstand and turned my phone off, making it go quiet. But within a few seconds it started ringing again.

    "You stupid phone, why won't you just-"

    I went to turn it off again but then noticed that it wasn't my alarm going off. Someone was calling me. It was mom.

    Why would she be calling me this early? She almost always sleeps in.

    I answered the phone and put it up to my ear. "Hello?"

    "Michael!" she exclaimed. "Oh thank goodness you answered!" She sounded completely panicked.

    "Is everything alright mom?"

    "No! No, they're not!"

    "What's wrong?" I asked, sitting up, now starting to get worried.

    "It's... it's Elizabeth!"

    "What about Elizabeth?"

    "She's gone!"

A/N: So I know this was a shorter chapter. It was originally part of the last chapter, but I didn't like having them all in one.