Chapter Text
Chapter 1
Henry turned around in his basement to face William, careful of the animatronic parts on the floor. “I was thinking… Since Michael’s getting braces, I could, too. You know, to fix my lisp,” Henry tentatively suggested.
William, engrossed in an animatronic armpiece, dropped everything and spun around to face Henry. Henry snorted at William’s absolutely gobsmacked face. William stomped over to Henry and slapped his hands against his cheeks, holding Henry close to his own face. William inhaled deeply, sighed on Henry’s face blowing his curly, light brown hair back, and spoke loud and clear: “No.”
“But William, I don’t like it! I’ve had this stupid lisp since before I could ever remember. Even the employees at Freddy’s the other day laughed at it!”
“No.”
“But William… You know how much tosh I’ve gotten for it!”
William stepped closer to Henry and kissed him on the lips. “I love your lisp,” he whispered.
Henry smiled sheepishly. “I just think it would be nice to be taken seriously for once… First my weight, then my lisp…” Henry trailed off after meeting William’s eyes. Henry loved his eyes. They never seemed to waver in their intensity. Just glancing at his eyes gave Henry a shiver.
“Henry. I always take you seriously. You know how much I love your lisp.” William kissed Henry again.
Henry noticed how hot his face had gotten. “You’re not taking me seriously now… ” he muttered, bringing his hand up to William’s.
“That’s because you’re being thick right now.” William leaned in again and kissed Henry, longer this time. Henry closed his eyes.
The basement door banged open on the other side of the room. “Christ on a bendy bus!” William exclaimed as he jumped away from Henry.
“Damn it, William! I’ve been looking all over for you! Michael has this goddamn appointment in like, five fucking minutes and I need to take Evan to Tee Ball!” M̶r̶s̶.̶ ̶A̶f̶t̶o̶n̶ yelled down at William from the basement steps. William’s heart thudded hard in his chest.
“What the bloody hell are you doing here M̶r̶s̶.̶ ̶A̶f̶t̶o̶n̶ ?!” William patted his hair down nervously. Henry, who had shuffled to one end of the basement, snickered at how William’s hair sprung right back up.
M̶r̶s̶.̶ ̶A̶f̶t̶o̶n̶ sighed loudly and turned around. “I’m not saying it again. You’re taking Michael to his appointment,” she started to walk out the basement door, “whether you can tear yourself away from him or not.” She spat out the last part.
William flinched. “You know, Evan doesn’t even LIKE Tee Ball!!” he screamed at the empty doorframe. William knew what M̶r̶s̶.̶ ̶A̶f̶t̶o̶n̶ meant by that last part, but refused to acknowledge it. No one knew about him and Henry. No one was supposed to…
Henry, now seeing that the coast was clear, slid back over to William. He brushed up against his arm. William turned his pained face to Henry.
“...If you let me get braces along with Mike, I’ll go with you…” Henry joked.
William stood up straighter. “Over my dead body.”
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“They feel really funny!” Henry poked a finger at his teeth.
William sighed and wrapped an arm around Henry’s shoulder. Michael walked up ahead of them on the sidewalk. He was chatting loudly with one of his friends, their matching Foxy and Bonnie masks glinting in the sunset. “You know, I told you not to get them… They’ll hurt like hell, you know.”
“Please, like you would actually stop me from doing something,” Henry laughed up at William. After years and years, William was finally taller than Henry, but only by about five inches. Henry kept saying that he allowed William to finally grow taller, but William knew Hnery shoved a bit of platform in Wiliam’s shoes when he wasn’t looking. Still, William had grown and planned to use it to his advantage, even if it didn’t last.
“You know, I have more authority than you think. I do run half of Freddy’s, you know.” William slowed his steps.
Henry slowed down, too, humming. “Sure, Will.”
“Just remind me to say ‘I told you so’ when your new braces hurt.”
Henry hummed again and put his arm around William’s waist. William squeezed Henry’s shoulders and smiled. Michael paused his yapping up ahead and glanced back, the nearly set sun further defining the harsh lines of his face. He frowned, then turned back around.