Chapter Text
New town. New opportunities. That’s what William kept telling himself for the entire week he had been packing, traveling and unpacking to the small town of Strandford. It was a big change, from the bustling city of San Diego to a low life town like Strandford, Massachusetts. The weather made William want to jump off a bridge. He had just come back from the worst heartbreak of his entire life. Being a single father of three children, one not even a year old yet, having to deal with an angsty preteen, it wasn’t easy. He had endured ten years of his wife’s extreme mental breakdowns, the screaming matches, getting hit, the slow breakdown of his own self-worth. It was even harder when he really tried to prove his worth to her, but it never worked out. So when she had left with all HIS money that HE worked so hard to provide for HIS family, and left HIM with virtually nothing, leaving HIS children and himself to go back to his hometown of Strandford to pick up the pieces that she had left behind, it was very hard.
He only had a small amount of money from his own back account that he had the common sense not to share underneath both of their names, and that barely could cover the food for four people for one night. William had no idea what he was going to do, he either had to find a job that paid well, or … well he would have to give his kids into foster care, and he was not about to do that last option.
William opened up the door that was his old home, it still smelt like his mother’s lavender perfume that she used to spray around like crazy, talking about some virus she was going to get out. He sighed, remembering all the good times, and coming back to the worst time in his life. It was kind of ironic, but not in a good way.
“Which room is mine?” William looked back to see Michael holding two boxes. One read his name on the side and the other read Evan’s name, which was filled with baby clothes and the things that Kateline had bothered to leave behind.
“Upstairs, to the right.” William tried his best to smile. His son’s eleven-year-old eyes held too much sorrow for a boy his age. “Do you need help unpacking?”
“Does it look like I do?” Michael asked, it was supposed to come out as a joke, but all in all it came out as downright disrespectful, but William ignored it. He was going through something right now, his mother had abandoned him, and he was in a whole new town, Michael had every right to be a little bit of that angsty pre-teenager.
“Alright then.” William said, turning away. Lizzie was bringing up each of her dolls, while Evan fused in his highchair, wanting to explore. William felt a new headache forming in turn of the old one that had left him hours before.
“Michael.” William said. “You are in charge, until I get back.” William looked to his oldest son, who was busy trying out how to braid Lizzie’s hair for her first day in school.
“Alright.” Michael said, giving him a thumbs up. “Where are you going?”
“To the store, going to get Evan some formula.” William almost screamed of delight when he had found twenty dollars in his wallet that he must have forgotten to turn into the bank, thank goodness. “I have some extra money, you two want anything.”
“No thanks.” Michael and Lizzie said at the same time, knowing that their father was already short on money.
“Come on, don’t lie, I know you want something. Everyone does, I have some extra money, I can get it.”
“Can … can I have ice cream?” Lizzie asked, hesitantly.
“May I have some twinkies, I have been craving them since we moved.” Michael said, the bitterness out of his voice after thinking about sweets, he did always have a sweet tooth.
“Alright, broccoli and zucchini.” William said with a smile, seeing Lizzie face of pure horror after she had heard the vegetable that she hated.
“No, dad, no. You know how much I hate zucchini.” Lizzie cried.
“Why do you hate it so much, it’s not that bad.” Michael laughed and then groaned when the braid came undone. “Stop freaking moving.”
“Because it makes you think that it is a cucumber, and then when you bite it, it's a freaking zucchini, it preys on my trust.” Lizzie complained. “Please, dad?”
“Okay, okay. Lizzie, you want cookies and cream, and I will get you some Twinkies Michael.” William grabbed his coat and walked towards the door. “Be back in a couple of minutes.” He said as he walked out the door.
So William found out that small towns, tight knit communities. Way different from San Diego where you would have to watch your back whenever you walked outside alone. William would have never gone to the grocery store at night, leaving his children alone, but he had grown up here, he knew this place like the back of his hand, and to say the least, literally nothing had changed. The general store was still near the movie theater, the library still had that dent in the door that he may or may not have helped create, and there still was the ice cream parlor that was painting a bright shade of pink and blue, as if someone was about to reveal the gender of their child. But William also found out that people remembered him? That was the last thing he had ever expected to happen. He never expected him to remember William.
“William Afton?” He heard that voice. It couldn’t be. William turned around to be met with a man. He had dark brown eyes that had a very nice contrast with his light brown hair. He was about two inches shorter than William, and not much of a stocky build like William was. William could barely believe he still lived in Strandford.
“Henry Emily?” William almost choked on his words.
“Oh goodness, it is you! I almost didn’t recognize you!” Henry ran up to his old friend, giving him a big hug around the waist, squeezing him tightly. “I don’t remember the last time we have ever talked, not before you decided to move to California. How was it by the way? What are you doing back here?”
“It’s …” William started to choke on his words. “It’s really good to see you.” Henry must have known something was off, he knew his best friend back-to-back, like a good book that you could never put down, they literally shared everything together. William had gone to Henry’s house before he had run away to California, asking Henry if he wanted to run away together, but Henry chickened out at the last minute. Now he was thinking if he should have done it all those years ago.
“Will? What happened? You look terrible.” Henry grabbed his friend’s hand. His shirt looked way too big on him, Henry knew that William was way more muscular than he ever was, but this shirt was two sizes too big, or William was two sizes too skinny. He noticed on his wrist, there were three large dark bruises that looked like someone had grabbed it and squeezed just a little too hard. “Will, are you okay?”
Those words. Those fucking words. That is what made William break.
Henry drove him to the grocery store, while his friend literally threw his guts out at him. Everything that has and has been going on. The woman that he married turned out to be more than he actually bargained for. Abusive and toxic, just like his parents were. Henry’s heart broke when he saw William shake and cry as it was like the first time he had said this to anyone. Henry had a tiny feeling of pride, still proud of the fact that his best friend would still come to him whenever he needed him.
“She what?!” Henry yelled.
“She took everything and all the money I have is around forty dollars. I really need a job.” William sighed as he wiped the dried tears off his cheeks. “Wow, I look like a fucking mess.”
“Yeah you do.” Henry laughed.
“You know, I didn’t think you would still be here, like living in Strandford.”
“I never thought you would come back. So … do you have kids?” Henry asked, why did that question seem so terrifying to him.
“Yeah, three. Michael, Elizabeth, and Evan.”
“Oh god, you really do need help. Well, I have to call Charlie and tell her I will be a little late.” Henry got up and then snapped his fingers. “Do you still have those old blueprints?”
“Yeah, why?”
“Keep them, I think I just found you a job.” Henry smiled widely.
Michael heard a car pull up into the driveway, he didn’t remember his father actually leaving with his car, and his car keys were still on the counter. Was mother coming back? Michael really didn’t like mother, she would say nasty things to him, Lizzie, and even to Evan, thank goodness he was too young to understand all the terrible things she had said to him. Father could only do so much, and with her threatening his life every single second, no wonder he felt like his hands were tied. Michael was so glad mother left without him, he felt so much safer with his dad.
He looked outside, and Lizzie pushed him aside to peek through the blinds, where she saw two men. One was her father and the other man she had never seen before. The other man was talking to her dad, which made him smile. Lizzie had never seen her father smile so purely before, not even at mother.
“Michael? Lizzie?” The door opened and William stepped inside. “What are you two doing?” He questioned as he saw the pair peeking through the window.
“Nothing.” Lizzie smiled.
“Liar.” William said back, but also with a smile. “Got your ice cream, you better put it in the freezer and not EAT IT!” William yelled as she ran over with it to the kitchen, where he heard a drawer open and the clinking of silverware. Of course, she was eating it.
“Who’s that?” Michael asked. “Someone from CPS?”
“Oh no.” William chuckled. “This is Henry Emily, a childhood friend of mine when I used to live here in Strandford.”
“Hello, you must be Michael.” The man came up to Michael. He had a nice presence around him, kind brown eyes that did not look anything like Mother’s hawkish eyes that would find anything wrong with you. “God, you look just like your father.”
“Yeah, I get that a lot.” Michael chuckled. “I never knew dad had friends, he never talked about you.”
“Really,” Henry looked up at William like he was hurt. “I feel betrayed.”
“Oh shut it.” William shot him a smug look before looking at Michael. “Got you, your Twinkies. Now off to bed, both of you, I have some talking to do.”
“Love you!” Lizzie called up, sprinting up to her room.
“Elizabeth Angelica Afton, put that ice cream in the freezer!”
“God, they look just like how I remember them.” Henry held up the blueprints that he remembered watching William make when they were in high school.
“So what do you mean by that you found me a job?” William crossed his arms. “Does it pay well, are you sure this will work?”
“Remember the business idea we used to talk about in school?” Henry asked, William nodded his head in an answer. “Well, I have friends who can make that happen. Ben Jackson and Phillip Comber. Trust me, they are the real deal.”
“And what if they steal my idea.”
“They won’t,” Henry said.
“How do you know?” Willam asked.
Henry put down the blueprint and put his hand on his friend’s shoulder, “cause I would never let that happen.”
“Well, well, well.” William walked inside of a building which was still a work in progress. Wires hung from the ceilings, the tiles on the floor weren’t all the way glued together but it was already looking amazing. In the center was a wooden stage that was halfway painted red and there was a smaller stage off the left, where curtains were covering whatever was going behind there. “This looks …”
“Dirty. Ugly. Not finished.” Henry guessed.
“I was going to say untidy, but those work as well.” William chuckled, seeing Henry roll his eyes. “Phillip! Phillip, I found him.”
“Hello? Hello?” A very tired voice came out from the darkness. A younger man than the both of the pair standing in the darkness came out, rubbing his head and had a red mark and indentation of what was a shirt on his cheek.
“Fell asleep again?”
“Maybe?” The man, who had two different eye colors, looked at William. William had never seen such eye colors as his before. One was a dark brown that almost looked black and the other was blue. But the more William stared, the more uncomfortable the man seemed to get.
“Don’t stare.” Henry whispered.
“Oh sorry.” William quickly looked away.
“It’s fine. You must be Afton, Emily’s friend.” The man held out his hand. “Name’s P-P-Phillip C-Comber.” Phillip said through a yawn. “But everyone calls me the phone guy, cause I sit by a phone all day.” Phillip answered the question that was about to arise.
“So you are the one with the plans, let’s see them.” Phillip rubbed his hands together. William chuckled as he took out his bag, putting the blueprints on the only table that was somewhat brightened by the sun peeking through an open window that wasn’t covered with a black tarp. “These are amazing. You did this?”
“Yeah.”
“Jeez, you should have told me this guy was smart, he could have helped me on my college applications.” Phillip laughed. “Freddy Fazbear … cool name, how did you come up with this one.”
“We were …” William chuckled at the memory of Henry and him so sleep deprived that they started to name off stupid names that people name their children, laughing as if they were drunk when Henry had said Freddy Fazbear. “It was a tiring week.”
“Ah yes, sleep depravity, I can understand. Well, I think we are in for a great business. I really like that name. What do you think about: Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria.” Phillip said the name of the building while putting his hand in the air.
“I think we are in for a great partnership.” William smiled, holding out his hand for Phillip to shake.
“Thank you so much Mr. Afton. You will not regret this.” Phillip shook his hand gingerly.
“Call me William, kid.”
“Hey, I am not a kid. I’m officially twenty-one years of age.” Phillip pointed at himself proudly.
“Yeah, your still a baby.” Henry patted Phillip’s head.
“Stop, you guys are like parents.” Phillip pushed Henry’s hand away to stop him from ruffling his hair. “You guys are both insufferable.”
“Trust me, you have seen nothing from us.” Henry smiled. “Now that I got my partner back, the world is in for a real treat.”
“Just when I thought my migraines would go away.” Phillip said.
“Daddy!” Lizzie jumped into her father’s arms. William grunted as he wasn’t able to pick up his daughter anymore since she was already too big. “I made a friend!”
“You did?” William looked to Henry, who smiled, happy for Lizzie. “Who is it?”
“Her name is Charlotte, but she goes by Charlie. Isn’t that cool. We are sisters now!” Lizzie smiled as she waved over to a girl with darker hair, but it still somewhat looked similar to Henry’s. Odd, didn’t Henry say that he had to call someone named Charlie? There must have been a lot of Charlie’s around here. But when she had caught the eye of Henry, she ran up to him, hugging him around the chest.
“Wow, what a coincidence. Your daughter and mine, being friends.” Henry chuckled.
“You have a kid?!” William almost sounded surprised and a bit … upset? Why was he upset?
“Well yes and no. I adopted Charlie, I never actually married because well … reasons.” Henry whispered, breaking eye contact with William. He didn’t question it, he remembered how Henry was so adamant about not getting married at all. So, he just accepted it as Henry was lonely.
“Dad?” Charlie looked up to Henry. “Can me and Lizzie have a sleepover tonight, please?” Charlie asked as she pulled on Henry’s arm.
“Well, me and William do need to go over a few things, so sure. You don’t mind, do you, Will?” Henry asked him.
“Not at all, Lizzie does need friends other than her dolls.”
“You have dolls?” Charlie asked, almost excited.
“All the American Girl Dolls Historical Collection.” Lizzie said proudly.
“Can I see them?”
William smiled as he walked past the stairs to see the two girls laughing while they were playing some kind of game. Michael was sleeping in his room, where there was no need to worry, since he slept like a log. William’s heart almost had a heart attack when he saw Michael sleeping with Evan, Evan’s finger wrapped tightly around Michael’s pinky. But for good measure, he closed Michael’s door, so the loud laughs of the girls wouldn’t wake up Evan.
“I remember all the memories in this house.” Henry smiled as he sat in the kitchen. “Remember when —” Henry burst out laughing. “When you tried to impress that girl outside your backyard in the forest. You tried to climb that tree, and you fell.” Henry covered his mouth as he tried to keep a laugh when he saw William’s unamuzed expression.
“You thought it was funny, I wanted to kill myself.” William smirked.
“Yeah, I did think it was funny.” Henry laughed.
“It’s funny.” William looked back to the living room. “All the good memories of this place always had something to do with you.” William looked back, thank goodness the light was too low for William to see Henry’s face turn bright red. William looked too good in this lighting, Henry really wanted to hit him for that.
“Really?”
“Yeah, you were the best thing that ever happened to me.” William smiled. “Cause if it wasn’t for you, I would never be alive, I would have never had an amazing family. I would have never been able to see Michael grow up. Lizzie to take her first steps. To hold Evan in my arms for the first time. Hell, I wouldn’t have been married because of you. How did you do it?”
“Do what?” Henry asked, he was starting to shake. He felt so nervous yet happy at the same time. Why did William always make him feel these things?
“Save my life?”
“I guess I like fixing broken things.” Henry smiled. William almost stopped smiling, he seemed surprised by what Henry had said, almost taken aback of what he had said.
“Oh, well then you are going to love me.” William said back, tucking his thumb and index finger underneath his chin, biting his lip.
“Oh god, not this again.” Henry pushed William’s face away from him. “I thought we were over this.”
“You thought wrong, my good friend.”
“You are such an idiot.” Henry laughed, which made William in turn laugh. “So how long are you planning on staying here?”
“Maybe until I get enough money, but I think California has nothing left for me. Maybe I just need to heal.” William sighed as he played with his fingers.
“Well, I am glad that you are back, it makes the world a little less lonely.” Henry put his hand on William’s, his skin just as warm as Henry remembered it to be.
“Well, you make my world a little less dark.” William smiled, he found himself staring too long into Henry’s eyes. “So, we have a guest bedroom, you want to stay there.”
“Sure, but if I see you not sleeping, I will knock you out.” Henry pointed at William.
“Point taken, message received, and advice ignored.” William smiled.
“William!”