Work Text:
The next day, Evan wakes up in his bed. Gregory is curled up next to him, Fredbear held close to his chest. The soft morning light streams in through the curtains. He turns his head to glance at his alarm clock.
“6:30,” he murmurs to himself.
Gregory stirs. “Huh?” He sits up, rubbing his eyes. “Ev’n?”
“Shhh….go back to sleep. It’s still early.”
And just like that, his brother is fast asleep. He chuckles, laying back down. It’s the weekend, so he should take the opportunity to sleep-in. But…..
….he can’t.
Evan looks up at the ceiling. The stars can’t glow right now due to the light, but they’re still so cool. Definitely worth the half hour lecture from their father about how they could chip the paint. He counts them, hoping it will be enough to lull him back to sleep.
His brother once said he should count sheep if he wanted to go to sleep. Evan can’t imagine where he would find one sheep, let alone enough to count.
Well, he thinks to himself, wriggling under the covers, the Wilsons have a farm off the interstate. But that’s miles from here, and then there’s the matter of-
His door opens a crack.
“Hey, brat,” Michael whispers, poking his head into the room. “Are you up?”
Evan stares at him. The world must be ending for his big brother to be up before noon on a Saturday.
“Come here.” He pushes the door all the way open. “We need to talk.”
“O-okay,” Evan whispers back.
Honestly, he has no idea why they’re whispering. Their family mostly consists of heavy sleepers. Mum and Lizzie could sleep through a tornado (and they have), and dad will happily ignore almost anything. But Michael wears the expression of someone that knows too much. Someone that needs to divulge a terrible secret, and what are little brothers for if not to keep their older siblings’ secrets (and to be the metaphorical and literal punching bags)?
He slides out of bed, making sure to tuck in the blankets around Gregory.
In the hallway, Michael grabs his arm.
“Ow!” Evan complains.
His brother turns back to glare at him, putting a finger to his lips. “Shush.”
He’s led down the stairs and out the backdoor. Michael lets go of him to shut the sliding door.
“Where are we going?” Evan asks, rubbing his arm. “Are you okay? Should I get-”
Michael interrupts him. “I think father’s wrong.” He steps off the porch steps, and Evan follows him.
They end up behind the large tree Evan likes to hide under during Gregory’s naptime. Michael leans against it.
“Well, I mean, father’s wrong about a lot of things. He did cheat on mum and can be really scary when we don’t listen. And can’t help us with our homework, because he says it gives him a headache….” Evan trails off. “But that’s not what you mean, is it?”
“No,” his brother answers. “Recently, you’ve been so weird around father. Well, I suppose, weirder.”
Evan ignores the dig. “And?”
“And I think…I think I know why.”
A raven caws, circling the yard before landing on the picket fence with peeling white paint. Evan watches it, considering his brother’s words.
“You,” he starts, “know about Susie?”
“There’s another one?” Michael asks, eyes wide.
“What?” Evan stumbles closer to the tree, facing away from his brother. He suddenly feels nauseous.
“I was referring to Charlie. I found a scrapbook in father’s workshop last night with article after article of her disappearance.” His brother puts a firm hand on his shoulder. “Susie? Isn’t that the girl whose parents came to our door?”
Evan looks back, eyes growing wet. He nods.
“Ev, what happened?”
He takes a shaky breath, craning his neck to look back at the house. With their rotten luck, father might decide today is the day he needs to mow the lawn at six in the morning.
Michael, uncharacteristically patient, waits for him to talk.
“You remember that day you found me on the porch crying?”
“Yeah?”
“And I told you that father took Gregory, so you went after him, and then, I eventually went after you?”
“Yes.”
“On my way there, I came across Susie crying.”
Evan’s chest feels tight. He wants to curl into a ball and cry. Telling Cassidy was one thing. She’s on the same footing as him. She’s a kid, and it’s unlikely she’ll be able to do anything beyond ruminate on how to find her best friend.
But telling his brother is different.
Michael is a big kid, almost a teenager. He’s strong and smart and can solve any of Evan’s issues with a wave of his hand. When he’s not picking on him, or completely and utterly ignoring him, he thinks Michael might be the best big brother he could have asked for.
His bottom lip quivers, and he fidgets with the hem of his nightshirt. “And I told her I would walk her home, but I needed to go to the diner first.”
“And then?”
“And then, we went to the diner.”
His brother’s eyebrows are furrowed and he’s staring intently at Evan.
Evan stares at the ground, tears sliding down his cheeks. “And…and…and I told her to clean up in the bathroom. And I found you guys, but I forgot about Susie. I just-just wanted to help her! But if I had just walked away from her, she’d still be here.” Evan chokes back a sob, biting his lips to keep from acting like a, “crybaby” as his sibling and classmates would say.
Michael sighs, heavily. He kneels down and places his hands on Evan’s shoulders.
“Evan, it’s going to be okay.”
And that, that sends him into hysterics.
He’s pulled into his brother’s arms. The gesture foreign but not unwelcome.
Michael places his chin on top of his head. “We’re going to figure this out. Father isn’t some shadowy monster that lurks underneath our beds. He’s only human.”
Evan nods, soaking up every little bit of comfort his brother’s providing.
This very well might be a dream, he thinks. Counting the stars might have actually lulled him to sleep.
So, he decides, hugging his brother just a little tighter. He should enjoy it while it lasts.