Chapter Text
It had been 18 months since Williams “Springlock accident”
He had recovered impressively well for such intense internal injuries. He used a cane day to day and occasionally a wheelchair when he had pain flareups but otherwise he was walking again, which was a miracle.
The doctor also recommended being careful what he ate to avoid indigestion. as the damage he had done to his stomach could lead to problems in the future if irritated too much. Well that wasn’t a problem, William wasn’t that adventurous with his food anyway… colonise half the world for spices and then you can’t even tolerate most of them, maybe being an idiot came free with being English…
On the bright side of it all, him and Henry had finally gotten together after the accident. He and Henry had liked each other since college and it was only a matter of time before they got over themselves and finally said something. if only it didn’t take a near death experience to get here…
But all was going well, William had cheated death and made a nearly full recovery, him and Henry were happy heading towards their two year anniversary, Fazbear entertainment and the new locations were going successfully despite the “setback”
…so why did William feel so off?
Not that William normally felt well… “normal” but he felt uncomfortable and not physically, he had gotten use to that pretty quickly after the incident. No, Mentally… he felt mentally unwell, which wasn’t unusual for him but he felt more unsteady than usual.
…It might have something to do with what happened to his spring Bonnie after the fact.
Henry had decided to retire the springlock suits after the accident, …which William couldn’t really argue with, as much as he wanted to.
Henry had originally wanted to destroy them completely, there was even talks of burning them… but William convinced Henry not to, they were still their own hard work, one of the first things they truly made together, a important part of Fazbears history.
So they had found a way to compromise, Henry had dismantled the suits, Both Fredbear and Spring Bonnie had been taken apart and removed of all their mechanics and springlocks, leaving only the outside shell of Fur. Then they had cleaned them up, and tried to restore the material as best as possible.
This process was easier said than done though…
Despite the fact that both got regularly light cleaned once a week when they were in use, they still had work to do. Fred had some general wear and tear and stains from the children. But Bonnie, of course, was in a state.
Blood was soaked into the inside of the suit, luckily not much had gotten on the outside as the metal bars keeping William caged in it, prevented much of his own insides from leaking out around them. …it was still a hassle to cleanup though…
But they got it done, they looked almost as good as new …almost.
Not that anyone would notice the small details as their new home was to be behind a giant glass display case.
Henry and William agreed to put the old suits on display at Fredbears family dinner, the first restaurant they opened, and the first place they performed in the suits. A little while After they opened their second location with the “Toys” as they called them, they took Fred and bon off the stage semi permanently so they could be moved between the pizzerias as suits, …. probably would’ve been a good idea to take the springlocks out then… but of course they had to have animatronics for the stage of Fredbears, so they made another version of the “Toy” characters into the classic Fredbears style. Freddy Fazbear, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy.
William liked them well enough, but it just wasn’t the same as good old Fred and Bon… and yes William made Henry let him reuse the name Bonnie.
Now that they were opening new locations, and the old suits have been retired, Fredbears family dinner was now called the “legacy location”
William was currently standing in front of the glass display case, it had a plaque on it with the details of the characters and how they were first made. He was looking at his spring Bonnie. He missed him, as if the thing didn’t try and kill him… Henry had thought that William would never wanna see the thing again, but William didn’t blame his Bonnie for the accident, Of course he didn’t.
He missed performing as his Bonnie, it was the one time William felt he could truly be himself, without judgement. Where his whimsy would be seen as the result of a good actor and not a manic freak…
William felt more like he had to perform as “William Afton” then he ever did as Spring Bonnie. “Mr Afton” had responsibilities, a mature businessman, where as Bonnie wouldn’t know a thing about finances, but William had to.
He yearned for the type of freedom that mask brought him…
“Hey Bunny, you alright?” William felt Henry’s hand on his shoulder as he was brought back to reality by his partner, in more than just business nowadays. “You’ve been standing here a while, got lost in that beautiful head of yours again?”
“Oh, ah yes, I suppose…” Henry rubbed his hand in circles over Williams back in a attempt to comfort “Yeah? Mind telling me what’s got you overthinking again?” William playfully rolled his eyes.
“Oh Hen dear I’m fine, don’t worry.”
“Well I’m gonna worry, it’s my job as world’s best boyfriend.” Henry put his hand over his heart, William couldn’t help but giggle.
“Oh is that what you are? Does that mug happen to sit next to the “#1 best Dad” mug?” William asked holding back a chuckle. “Why yes it does, and I hope to add “best husband” to the list eventually” Henry winked at William with a smirk but William just sighed and looked away sadly.
“Oh hey… it was just a joke Bunny, we don’t have to-“
“It’s not that!” William quickly cut his partner off “I do want to, it’s just…we can’t… you know that.” It was Henry’s turn to look away, but he quickly turned back. “I know… but it’s getting better, one day it’ll happen and I promise we’ll be one of the first to do it.” William was always scared of being too hopeful
“…you really think it’ll happen in our lifetime?” William looked straight into his lover’s eyes “of course Bunny…” Henry put his hand up to Williams cheek and pulled him into a soft reassuring kiss, William gladly accepted and ran his own hands through Henry’s curls.
Before it could go any further Henry pulled himself back “alright, alright, we’re in public”
“And whose fault is that?” William’s smirk quickly faded as Henry looked at him slightly annoyed “Yours! You should be back in the office but you’ve been standing out here for the last hour, and you still haven’t told me why.” Henry had his hands crossed over his chest as he gave William a disappointed look, despite William being the taller of the two, he felt small under Henry’s gaze. …no wonder Charlotte was so well behaved, it felt horrible to make Henry look at you like that…
“I- …I don’t know, I guess I just miss, performing …you know?” William looked back up at Spring Bonnie behind the glass, he decided honesty was the best policy when it came to Henry. “I miss being Bonnie, being free to just… be me, have fun…” Henry’s gaze softened “hey I get it, I know how much you love Springy, it was your character, and it always will be, you don’t have to give that all up just cause you don’t have the Suit.” Henry gave William a reassuring smile.
“I’m… not quite sure what you mean?” William looked at him confused, did Henry mean to make a new suit without springlocks? That could work… but William felt it wouldn’t be the same, he had a special connection to his original suit, I mean for Gods sake he nearly died in it…
“You don’t need the Suit to be yourself William, why can’t you be like Bonnie without the mask?” Williams face shifted between every emotion he knew as he looked down and gave it some serious thought before answering.
“I guess I just feel safer with it… no one can judge be for being childish if I’m literally a children’s entertainment character, but Mr Afton has to be seen as respectable… I feel… stuck like this…”
Henry eyes looked sympathetic, he was so nice and understanding even of someone as surely mad sounding as William. “Hey Bunny, just because you don’t have a costume anymore doesn’t mean you have to be serious business 24/7 now. You know what we say Will, a magical place for kids AND grown-ups alike” William looked to the side as he finished the motto
“…where fantasy and fun come to life… yes I know… But it’s more than just that Henry! It’s… everything! I… I felt like me as Bonnie, like they had something I couldn’t get as a human, as… this” William gesture to himself “I have to be a …Man, and do all the things that come along with that title, and I’m not allowed to do things that don’t…”
William looked up at Spring Bonnie and realised he had subconsciously designed the character to be more androgynous than that of its counterpart Fredbear. Bonnie had the same colours as Fred, a happy yellow fur with contrasting purple accessories, but it was the little things that made a difference… it was the perfectly curled up eyelashes that made the character just a little more “Girlie” than the other its bow tie looked a little more… Feminine then Fred’s…somehow… and even the name “Bonnie” was normally a girls name although it could be gender neutral. The parents and kids alike called the rabbit both a boy and a girl at times.
“…it just all feels like …playing pretend!” William shot his hands out to his sides dramatically before letting them fall back down defeated. “And I never feel like I’m doing it quite right…”
“William… Bunny,” Henry took his hands in his own and looked William dead in the eyes. “you shouldn’t feel like you have to pretend. And You don’t have to be the ‘perfect man’” William opened his mouth to speak but got cut off before he could make any counterarguments. “I know you feel judged by everyone and that everything will go wrong if they see you as less than perfect, but I’m not like that, I won’t turn you away if you need to take a break from it all for a while.”
Henry brought his hand up to Williams cheek and gently pat his thumb under his eye. “I know how hard you try and be human enough for the rest of us, but I can see it’s exhausting, you’re scared of people seeing the real you and running away… but I’m no runner” Henry looked down at his bigger body, one that William adored, and they both let a little laugh get out.
“and I know I took you’re one escape from that away… but I don’t want you to feel like you have to pretend for me, ok?”Henry looked like he was trying to hypnotise him with how hard he was staring at William.
“Even if you have to perform for everyone else, I what you to feel safe enough to be real with me.” Henry was trying his best to project all his love into Williams eyes.
“I love you William, …please …let me love All of you…”
William did what he always does and had to try and hold back his emotions, which didn’t end up working as a tear rolled down the same cheek Henry was cradling, Henry caught the tear with his thumb and dragged it away.
“Don’t cry cottontail…”
Henry’s smile was so loving as he said that funny little pet name he had cared enough to have given him, William saw all that kindness of Henry’s pointing right at him, and he just cried harder. Henry quickly pulled William into a warm hug, William hid his face in Henry’s shoulder quickly drowning it with his tears,
“…you love me… you love me so much and I don’t deserve it…” his arms clung onto Henry’s back, as if he let go now he would lose him forever. “Of course you do Will-“
“NO!” William screamed through his crying. “You have no idea what I am… what I think when nobody’s looking …I’m a bad person Henry, you’re the only one who doesn’t see it…”
William heard a loud disappointed sigh.
“…you’re wrong William …I do know.” Henry said it so seriously, like he did know something he shouldn’t, that William was so shocked the tears slowed down. as he stopped crying He pulled back and looked Henry in the eyes again searching for something he couldn’t name. “…what?” But Henry avoided the eye contact and looked down, ashamed.
“…that night you saved Charlotte from the rain…” William’s whole body tensed up as his eyes drowned themselves in fear, he was sure he looked like a dear in headlights… “…she said she saw you holding a knife,” William was definitely starting to have a panic attack right on the spot. “Henry I can explain-“
“She said you put it away and looked scared when you saw her.”
It was William’s turn to look down as Henry tried to catch his eye. “…what happened?” Henry didn’t even sound man, just confused… William had hoped that night would vanish into the background and no one would remember it… but William never got what he wanted…
“…we can’t talk about this here,” William decided it would be best to be honest with Henry, if they were to continue on like this, he deserved the truth at least…
He started to walk to the back room of the restaurant, where they kept all the spare parts, it was connected to Henry’s workshop and was the one place customers and staff alike we’re not allowed to go.
“…follow me…”