This is a One-shot Fanfic of My FNAF AU
Don’t let the motors run past midnight:
William Afton had problems…. That much was obvious. A Theatre kid that never really grew up trapped in an adult body. Always looking for attention but never wanting anyone to get too close. That’s why he loved his precious Rabbit suit so much, his spring Bonnie was his escape from everything. Bonnie was a kids entertainer! They didn’t have to worry about finances or family drama or even something as silly as gender! William still got questions about Bonnie’s gender…and William still doesn’t know why he refuses to answer them. In the suit he could just let go and have fun and everyone would think he was just a really good character actor doing his job but in reality,
Bonnie was the real him …and Mr Afton was the mask.
A mask that was way harder to wear than any spring lock suit ever could be.
And sometimes more dangerous to.
One night When William was going through his divorce, sitting on the living room couch surrounded by papers and bottles and a few to many broken wine glasses… he got really upset and angry …and really really drunk and he felt his “tendencies” flareup. Luckily the kids were with their mother for the night. He proceeded to have an argument with himself over if he should go to Freddys, Henry was still at work and was the only one who could calm him down, not that Henry knew that or that William had “tendencies” that needed to be calmed in first place, …and he never would, if he could help it. William knew he shouldn’t drive in his current condition but he figured that someone was going to die if he stayed home anyway so might as well risk it.
He sped down the highway like a bat out of hell, and at this point, he’s starting to think he was.
He miraculously didn’t crash on the way there, he went to go park around the back of the building and go through the supply drop off door as to avoid as many people as possible. But when he got there he saw a little girl outside the pizzeria banging on the windows, obviously trying to get someone’s attention… he was confused, the front doors are always unlocked? Why can’t she get in? it’s getting later by the minute and the rains really coming down now, she will catch a cold or die of hypothermia at this rate.
She’s all alone, outside in the cold rain… with no one to protect her…
He tried to talk himself out of it, he always did. “Just go to Henry, tell him to go unlock the doors” …but it was harder to convince himself This time, it was just so…perfect. “I don’t have the right tools” …he said, as he grabbed the switch blade from his glove box.
“It’s not the right place or time” …he said, as he stepped out of his car, a metallic purple that blended into the dark night sky.
“I don’t want to clean up” …he said, as he thought about how easy it would be to carry her little body around to the dumpsters, drive off and just burn his clothes and knife…
His eyes felt like they had gone as fuzzy as the fur on his beloved Suit. He moved as if he really was a robot following pre-programming …
But as he slowly walked up to the girl-
The girl turned around just in time, happy to see a familiar face, seemingly unaware of how much danger she was in.
“Charlie!? what the hell are you doing out here in this weather? And where’s dad?” Well that sure sobered him right up, standing in the cold rain might’ve helped as well… he carefully put the knife in his back pocket hoping she didn’t see. “The other kids were being mean to me and locked me out, and dads in his workshop so he couldn’t hear me” god fucking DAMIT HENRY! William had nearly killed his own Goddaughter coz of his business partners workaholism! “Of course he is…” He let out a big sigh as he dramatically dragged his hand down his face, bringing the rain water with it. “Okay… ok, I know another way in, follow me.”
He took Charlie around the back, to the kitchen door. he still didn’t fully trust himself not to strangle the kids that had been bullying his little Poppet. Because yes, the only reason he didn’t follow through with his plan was because he saw Charlotte as his own child, in a way… it definitely felt like it with how much he had to babysit her and her brother with Henry nose deep in blueprints half the time. That man was going to get a good talking to About That…
He lead Charlie through the alleyway kitchen door into the hottest place in the pizzeria to help her warm up, she had her arms wrapped around herself and was shivering as the rain water dripped from her soaked hair and clothes.
“I know Poppet, we’ll get you a towel in a moment, i just need to call your dad, stay here.” he started to walk over to the phone on the kitchen wall before thinking better of himself, right, kitchen… “and don’t touch anything!”
He called the workshop phone with the grace of a man who was drunk as all hell going through a divorce and nearly killed a kid… because he was that man.
“fazbear's workshop, what can I do for yo-“
“HENRY YOU FUCKING IDIOT GET DOWN HERE NOW!”
“KITCHEN! AND BRING A TOWEL!” He slammed the receiver back onto the holder. He crossed his arms and stumped against the wall, tried and failed to turn his brain off as he waited.
William sharply turned his head to the sound of Henry walking from the rest of the restaurant through the kitchens swinging doors thankfully holding a towel, …hopefully one not covered in motor oil.
“William what the hell is going on?” William snatched the towel out of Henry’s hands‘s bringing it to Charlotte.
“Your daughter got locked out in the cold rain, at night, that’s what going on.” He started to try and explain as he pet Charlotte‘s wet hair with the towel before draping it over her shoulders.
With that Henry seemed to finally take notice of the situation.
“Charlie?! Oh my gosh! Sweetheart I’m so sorry-“ Henry reached out his hands to cradle Charlotte’s face. “it’s ok Papa, uncle Will helped me!”
While Henry was busy fussing over the child he keeps neglecting, William blocked out all the voices, the ones in reality and the ones in his head. he made himself busy by getting a hot coco and a slice of cake for her, …he then reminds himself of what he almost did and decides to make it two slices, as an apology for something she’ll never know about, if he can help it.
“Charlie sweetie why don’t you go to my office for now, I just need to talk to dad for a bit, okay?” He handed the food to her and showed her to the door, “you won’t be long will you?” Her innocent eyes looked up at him with so much trust he didn’t deserve, especially after tonight. He smiled down at her anyway “course not Poppet, we’ll be there in two shakes of a rabbits tail”
“Okay!” She left through the same doors her father entered in, with a skip in her step, totally oblivious to how much danger she was in just moments ago.
“YOU ABSOLUTE MORON!” Forget whiplash, The speed at which he ripped his head around to his partner nearly snapped his own neck. “DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT COULD HAVE HAPPENED TO HER?!”
“NO! NO YOU DONT GET TO MAKE EXCUSES THIS TIME!” His eyes shined bright with anger, like he was trying to win a staring contest with the other man by killing him with his mind alone.
“Will? Have you been drinking?”
Right. He probably wrecked of alcohol. But that “Doesn’t matter! We have bigger problems, like you abandoning your children for your work!” William questioned if he had pulled the knife back out of his pocket with how sharply he was pointing his finger at Henry, “your young daughter was locked out at night, in a storm! she could’ve gotten hypothermia! or been kidnapped! or! Or!” …or I could’ve killed her, left her body behind a dumpster and ran away like nothing happened… “she at least has a cold by now…” Henry had enough shame to look at the floor. “…is that why you gave her extra cake?”
“…she deserves it after tonight.”
Henry took a deep breath “you’re right, im sorry…” It was obvious He had more to say but just didn’t know how to articulate it at the moment.
“Im not the one you should be apologising to” not after….
“Of course, I-“ Henry breathed again and William was considering how much Charlotte would mind being a orphan “thank you for looking out for her tonight”
…Definitely shouldn’t be thanking me either… if only you knew…
It’s not that Henry doesn’t care, William knows how much Henry loves his children. He would be devastated if anything happened to them.
Especially Charlotte, he would never say it, but it was obvious he favoured his little girl over her twin brother.
But his work always took up more of his time than it should. Don’t get him wrong, William understood why, he was probably the only other man on this earth that could share Henrys obsessive love of creation. But even he knew there was times he needed to hang up his suit and be a real person, as much as he dreaded it.
“I just don’t understand…the marionette should have been watching her-“
Oh god that fucking puppet again, Henry had made it after he missed the twins 3rd birthday, said it was a present for them but in reality it was just a babysitter on strings. William hated the goddamn thing, it was creepy as all hell but Charlotte loved it, sat by its box all day waiting for it to pop up and talk to her, It was a sad sight even for him.
One day when he was working in his spring bonnie suit, helping cheer up kids, She confessed to him that her best friends were her twin, which was fair enough, and that puppet, said it was “the only one who understands her” william fought back the urge to dismantle the damn thing and drag Henry from his workshop and sit him down in front of his kids.
“you can’t keep relying on that thing to parent your children!” William yelled after Henry as he tried to keep up with his determined stride, mind set on checking on that puppet.
When he got to the main room he quickly saw the issue, the marionette’s box had more presents stacked on top of it preventing it from opening.
“Ah there’s the problem” Henry looked as though he was delighted to find another problem to fix, a puzzle to solve. “NO! Henry YOU are the problem!” William was always jealous of Henry’s brilliant mind, he was a true genius, he could figure out anything with enough time. However Henry’s mind was a double edged sword, one that often blindsided him. and once he got a new idea he couldn’t put it down until he saw it through, which became a problem when he seemed to have a new invention on mind every minute of every day, leaving little room for his children.
“You need to stop this Hen” William spoke as softly as he could manage in his anger, reaching out hands, trembling, from anxiety or the leftover cold from outside he didn’t quite know.
“What… what if something Had happened tonight?” His hands found their way to Henry’s shoulders. “what if I hadn’t been here?” …what if I had… what if I was a worse person, what if I couldn’t stop myself… the confession refused to leave his lips, he wasn’t brave enough to say it, he always was a coward. “Your work won’t disappear if you leave it alone for a while… but I can’t say the same for Charlotte.”
He was met with a contemplative sigh, “you’re right Will, I need to be a better father to her, to her and Sammy.” William chose not to comment on how the mention of his son sounded like an after thought, “thank you for everything William, you’re a good friend.”
William allowed himself to look ashamed at that.
“Just don’t let it happen again…”
Driving home that night William only had one thought in his aching and hungover head
“…I’m never drinking again.”
