🌻Buttercup🌻▪[Freddy × Bonnie]

🌻 Chapter 4 - Paper Pals inc. 🌻

Despite his very late night, Bonnie awoke refreshed, the excitement from the previous night's good news was clearly having a lasting effect on him.

His memory was predictably foggy, and though he couldn't quite pinpoint the time he had inevitably collapsed, he estimated it around 4am. The rest of the night's time had been spent on a long and much appreciated call to Freddy. Bonnie had never enjoyed his unlimited minutes quite as much as he did on that call.

The topic of their conversation was obvious. They were both ecstatic, of course, and had plenty to talk about. Bonnie hardly knew how to start, though one particular thing stuck out to him. He, being the one who had attended Afton High for 4 years already, was going to be the one to show Freddy around and look out for him on his first couple of weeks while he settled down. Bonnie had absolutely no problem with this arrangement, in fact, he was eager to act as Freddy's personal guide.

That said, though, the best part of this turn of events was meeting Freddy in person. In just a week, he would finally see his closest friend, not only through a screen, but with his own eyes.

He was still lingering on that happy thought as he sat on his windowsill, observing the low sun, which cast a vivid line of orange light across the sky. Today it was Monday, exactly one week away from the first day of year 11. Bonnie had been dreading that day since the summer holidays began, however his opinion had changed drastically since last night. Instead of a foreboding doomsday, the 1st of September had transformed into a date that seemed all too far away, and he was all too eager to pass the time.

That was why Bonnie had gathered his savings, put on a hoodie and scrawled a list of supplies on a post-it note, which was promptly shoved into his pocket on his way out of his room. He half-slammed his door, though he didn't lock it. The hallway was still dim, it's windows letting in a slip of dawn light onto the carpet where Bonnie's red sneakers softly landed. He didn't intend to sneak out without a trace, but the prospect of waking his father was not an appealing one, particularly at this time. Even though he tried to be stealthy, he needn't have, Bonnie's dad always slept heavily.

In a matter of minutes, Bonnie was greeted by a cool, morning breeze. Although the sun had risen above the treeline, it didn't provide much warmth. He shivered, wrapping his hoodie closer to his chest, before setting off down the weathered stone path that served as a pavement along the dusty road. The rural hillside was alive with noise, the chirping of birds and insects, the rustle of green leaves, and now the steady beat of footsteps joined the chorus. It was blissfully secluded. Apart from Bonnie's house, there were only perhaps three other residences on this particular stretch of countryside, meaning the road was almost always silent. Bonnie thought it was odd, and sort of funny that such a patch of nature was only a ten minute walk away from the city, but it was certainly convenient, so he couldn't complain.

He had his phone on him, but judging by how tired Freddy sounded when they were on call, he didn't expect him to be in any position to be be awake before 2pm, nevermind able to string together a coherent sentence. That was fine though, he deserved some rest anyway, considering he would be preparing for the transfer soon.

Bonnie already knew where he could buy the stationery he needed, but he was also fond of wandering around the city streets, seeing what sort of clothes or art supplies were being sold, and generally spending a day out in town, seeing as though he hadn't left his own house in a while.

It wasn't long before he hit the more urban road, still enshroved by the green trees, but the roar of traffic was now much more audible, accompanied by chatting voices. The modern architecture of the city stretched high into the air, offices, apartments and shops lined the streets. The treeline ended abruptly, throwing Bonnie into the busy streets. He shouldn't have been surprised, of course people were up and out in town this early, yet the sheer number of people already bustling about shocked him a bit.

He kept his head down as he filtered into the crowd and pulled up his dark hood. He wasn't bothered by the noise so much as how he had to brush past people. He hated touching strangers, even if it was just a slight bit of contact. To avoid that, the shy boy usually took as many alleys or smaller streets to reach his destination, however, unfortunately, he couln't spy any less busy shortcuts. Oh well, he sighed, and folded his elbows into his sided to take up less room. There was bound to be one somewhere, and he was only about six minutes from the stationery shop now anyway. Opting to take his mind off of the awkward journey, Bonnie tried to focus on what he had written down that morning.

Pencil case, black or blue pens, some pencils, an eraser, pencil sharpener, ruler and maybe a few other things?

It sounded like quite a collection, but honestly it probably wouldn't cost more than £10 for everything. Bonnie had brought about £25 and some loose change, so he was planning on treating himself to a new sketchbook or something of the like.

Before he knew it, the crowd around him had thinned considerably, and he was looking up at the small crafts store;
Paper Pals inc. It had a certain charm that was hard to place, and it certainly didn't seem like everybody's first choice. From the outside, it looked normal, if a bit shabby. It's beige walls were sandwiched between two larger buildings; on the left was a block of low-quality apartments, which looked ready to cave in on themselves. On the right was a popular café, which Bonnie had heard was notorious for it's unreasonable prices and bad management. Either way, the craft shop was easy to miss if you weren't looking for it. The handmade 'open' sign hung invitingly in the door window.

Bonnie stepped forwards and gripped the bronze doorhandle firmly, twisting it's stiff mechanism and pushing the door open with a loud groan, a squeak and a chime.