Chapter Text
Michael was doing great so far this Saturday morning. He had actually gotten up on time, was able to comb through his messy curled hair, and even made breakfast for everyone. That was a rarity that happened only once or twice every few months.
Evan and Elizabeth had finally woken up and left their rooms shortly after Michael finished making breakfast. They sat down to eat, thanking Michael, nervously in Evan’s case.
William then suddenly walked towards the dining table, saying nothing as he pretended to listen to Elizabeth’s constant ramblings about whatever was on her mind. The young girl’s mind always raced with thoughts, faster than anyone could comprehend. She was similar to their mother in a way, except their mother’s thoughts were far from joyful.
William glanced over to Michael, and the teen pretended to ignore the piercing look, opting to keep on eating and avoid any sort of argument. Michael hated when something like this happened. It always killed the mood when Michael had to walk on eggshells.
“I got a call from your school, Michael. Mind telling me why your grades are slipping again?” The man’s gruff voice cut through the room. Elizabeth stopped talking and both she and Evan stared at the two, awaiting the inevitable fight. Sometimes it pained Michael to see the two like that, like somehow he was at fault for their discomfort.
Michael shrugged his shoulders, he tried opening his mouth, but he just couldn’t speak. He hated that he always shut down when it came to his father. It always filled him with frustration that his father was in control. He couldn’t stand being weak.
“I’m talking to you, Michael.” The irritation in William’s voice was sharp as Michael felt his limbs lock up in slight fear and frustration.
“…I dunno,” Michael meekly replied after a moment of silence, only causing his father to flare up in anger.
“Talk to me like I’m your father, not your imbecile friends,” William spat, feeling disrespected as Evan quickly got up to wash his plate as quickly as he could, running off to his room once he was done. Michael tried not to watch the boy, resorting to watching him through the corner of his eye.
Michael decided not to shy back. He had to stand up for himself, he couldn’t cry. He had to be stronger than he was showing himself to be.
“They aren’t imbeciles!” Michael spat back, furious at his fathers words. “They’re the only ones that listen to me!” Now it was Elizabeth’s turn to run off before things got worse. Once Michael broke from his initial freeze, it was hard for him to not fight whomever he was angry at.
“Don’t you dare talk to me like that! I listen to you plenty, ‘I don’t want to’, ‘maybe later’, ‘I don’t care’.” William stood up fast, his chair made a loud noise as it nearly fell over. Michael glared at his father, feeling a sense of injustice that his harmless, out of context words were being twisted against him.
“You don’t listen! If you did, you’d know I’m not that great at this kind of stuff!” Michael spat back with anger, and William laughed, mocking Michael as the teen stood up as well, trying to appear at least a little intimidating. it didn’t help him by much, considering the rather significant height difference between the two.
“Not this bullshit about you having a hard time focusing and your apparent lack of motivation.” The man sneered at his son and the teen scowled. “You’re an Afton, Michael, not a lazy, stumbling idiot, just like your mother.” William spat that last word like it was something to be ashamed of.
Michael’s body filled with pure rage. “I’d rather be kind and caring than an asshole with his head up his ass!” Michael shouted, tears started to fall from his eyes as he looked up to meet his fathers piercing gaze. Shiny silver blue met sharp steel as William swung his arm across the table to hit Michael in the face, who was once leaning forward over the table, suddenly fell to the side, hitting his head on the table with a groan.
“How dare you. Do you know what I do for you?!” The man shouted, his anger seemingly unending. “I pay for the food you eat, the water you drink, the roof over your head, the clothes on your back, I even let you be a boy. If you wanna be my son, you’re going to have to man up the best you can,” William finished with a snarl, and Michael glared down at the floor as William went towards his room, a loud slam rang through the house as a door opened behind Michael.
Tiny fists hit his stomach and legs as he got up. “Stop bullying daddy! You’re so mean, Michael!” Elizabeth shouted as Michael made his way back to his own room, face sore as he closed the door.
—
Michael groaned as he looked at his reflection from his dingy vanity mirror. His cheek was blossoming with black and blue and he lightly touched the tender skin, letting out a sigh of frustration. It wasn’t often that his father resorted to hitting Michael, but it was annoying and painfully obvious when he did.
He looked at his nightstand, grabbed his Walkman, popped in a random cassette and put the headphones over one of his ears. He snagged a notebook and pencil off of the floor and sat a pillow up so he could sit down on his bed more comfortably. The rock music playing gave him a little relief as he sketched whatever came to mind.
He heard a knock on the door and William stepped inside. Michael tried to give a neutral expression as he pulled the headphones down to his neck.
“I’m leaving for work, money is on the counter, take it and bring you, Evan, and Elizabeth to the market, you’re responsible for them.” And with that, the taller man walked out, closing Michael’s door behind him.
Michael sighed as set his stuff down, and got ready to go out, trying to figure out a story for any questions about his face.
—
Evan and Elizabeth were on the couch, dressed and ready to go, when Michael grabbed the money from the counter, and walked over to the two.
“C’mon, I don’t have it in me to deal with you two, stay close, and hold my hand.” Michael spoke with a hint of anger in his tone, causing Evan to immediately listen, but Elizabeth huffed and crossed her arms.
“I don’t wanna go with you unless you apologize to daddy for being mean!” The little girl said, and Michael scowled.
“I’m not doing that, and unless you wanna make father upset, we best get out and get back now.” Michael said with frustration, and Elizabeth reluctantly nodded with a scowl, and the three went off.
—
Michael glanced around the store, putting necessary items in first. They were in checkout, and Michael counted the money and compared it to the total price of the items he had. 3 dollars to spare. Surely his father wouldn’t notice? He’d only spend a quarter of that anyways. Michael rolled his eyes. Not like he cared to begin with.
He looked down at Even and Elizabeth, who were putting the items up onto the counter. Michael snagged two chocolate bars and a pack of gum. He put it on the counter and the cashier placed it into the bag.
He paid and he, Elizabeth, and Evan all carried a bag as they made their way home. The walk was silent as the three just focused on getting home.
—
They were putting away groceries when Michael pulled out the candy bars. He turned to face the two, his silver eyes watching them closely.
“Ev, Eli, catch.” He called out, and the two turned around, only to have a chocolate bar tossed at them. Evan yelped as he barely caught it, while Elizabeth caught the bar with ease. Evan kept that same annoying expression while Elizabeth brightened up.
“Thanks Mikey!” The young girl cheered, and Evan spoke softly as he thanked Michael as well.
“T-thanks Mikey.”
Michael scoffed. “Don’t let it get to your heads. Run off to Charlie and Uncle Henry’s place for a bit, I’ll finish up here, and then I’m gonna head out for a bit.” Michael huffed in false annoyance at the two, and turned back to what he was doing.
The two kids scampered off, Elizabeth letting out annoying giggles as she skipped along. Michael finished putting everything away before entering his room. He grabbed his Walkman alongside a couple of cassettes. He stuffed it into his grey side bag, and walked down the hall and opened the door, shivering slightly at the cool breeze. He looked up to see Evan and Elizabeth walk into their Uncle Henry’s house across the street.
Michael put on his headphones and pulled out a cassette tape. He put it in the Walkman and played it. Rock music rang through his ears as he lightly moved his head along with the beat.
His Walkman was one of his most prized possessions. It used to be his mothers, she had bought it when it first released in ‘79, but after she died that same year, his father had given him most of her stuff, telling him to ‘keep it or toss it’. It was no real surprise that William couldn’t care less, he and his mother, Clara, often got into messy fights over Michael before her death.
Michael sighed as he turned into a new street, shaking the memory away. He was 14 now, he can’t be like Evan, crying over everything. He walked up to a red door and knocked on it. A few seconds later, a boy about his age with curly, dirty blond hair, hazel eyes, a yellow Chica mask that matched Michael’s own Foxy mask, and a bright grin opened the door.
“Michael!” The teen cheered, looking down at the shorter teen.
Curse whomever was up there for not giving him his father’s height.
“Hey Jeremy, wanna hang?” Michael asked, a casual expression on his face.
Jeremy smiled, but it faltered a bit when he noticed the bruise on Michael’s face. He sighed internally, he knew Michael wouldn’t like it if he said anything.
“Sure!”