Chapter Text
It’s okay, CC. Don’t be scared.
Tomorrow is another day. Tomorrow is another day. Tomorrow is another d—
“HRAAH!” Dave awoke in a frenzy. He panted quickly, holding his knees to his chest. The awful sound of a girl’s laugh coming from the bed above made him jump again.
“Jeez, Elizabeth, you—...how long have you been up for?!”
“I couldn’t sleep for the life of me, Davie. I have nightmares too, you know?”
Dave sighed and stood up from the bottom bunk. He stared at the digital alarm clock on the nightstand. 11:00am.
High school hadn’t been kind to Dave at all, or to anyone for that matter. So, to start off his preciously awaited summer with even more nightmares and his sister just as annoying as ever, it was probably the worst start he could think of.
Elizabeth and Dave both headed downstairs, Elizabeth happily bouncing up and down while Dave begrudgingly followed behind her. They were greeted by their father, William, who had already prepared breakfast for the both of them. They sat down to eat as William brought along their meals.
“Well, hello, sleepyheads—you two look excited.” William said, as he placed their food in front of them. Dave couldn’t help but let out a small chuckle. He looked excited? Sure.
Elizabeth smiled widely. “Well of course, daddy! You remember what today is, don’t you?”
William paused. Today? What’s tod—
“Davie and I are meeting with Charlie, Cassie, and the others today at Freddy’s! Remember, daddy? We planned it last week! Right, Davie??”
Dave nodded. “Yeah...yeah, we planned to go to Freddy’s today, father.”
William clicked his tongue. “Ah, yes, of course. Freddy’s, with...your friends. Of course. I left my work early so I could take you there, after all.”
When his children were finished eating, William watched as Dave and Elizabeth did their respective dishes in proper fashion; when they were finished, he spoke.
“Well then, you two go off and get ready, and I’ll...we will be leaving in about an hour.”
At his queue, Dave and Elizabeth returned to their rooms.
Elizabeth changed quickly–a long-sleeve pink sweater, big dark jeans, high boots. While she did her make-up in the mirror, Dave changed into an oversized dark sweater and matching shorts. He glanced into the cabinet in his nightstand–an old Fredbear plush he used to love laid inside. Dave stared at it. Really stared. At the sound of Elizabeth’s “okay, I’m done!”, he quickly closed the cabinet and walked down with her.
Come on, guys!
Let’s give this little man a–
Dave and Elizabeth followed their father into his car–an iconic, sleek, purple Cadillac that was almost as fancy as how William Afton presented himself. They arrived at Freddy’s in no time; entering through the backdoor with William’s key.
“Okay, you two. You–we got here late, so your friends should already be here, is that right?”
“Mhm!”
“Right. So you have this, anything you need, just ask your brother, okay?”
William handed Dave his key.
“Yeah…thank you, father.”
Elizabeth pouted. She was still annoyed at how they had to come to the one Freddy’s location where Michael was the manager, and how he would probably just bother them all day long. At least, that’s what she thought–Dave imagined Michael wouldn’t even realize they were there.
William quickly left the building and drove off. Dave and Elizabeth went through the backroom and then to the prize counter to finally get to the front of the main stage; and there they were.
“CHARLIE!” Elizabeth yelled excitedly. She ran in for a hug and Charlie received her with open arms.
“Liz! I was wondering when you’d show..” Charlie said, her low voice slightly muffled by Elizabeth’s hair.
Alongside Charlie, Elizabeth greeted the rest of their friends–Gabriel, Susie, Jeremy, Fritz, and Cassidy. Dave eventually made his way towards them as well. Cassidy quickly got Elizabeth off of her and went up to Dave, her long black pigtails swaying slightly as she walked.
She tapped him on the shoulder from behind. “Hi,”
Dave jumped slightly, then giggled at her. “Ca-Cassie! Hey..”
“You finally decided to leave your room, huh?” She laughed. “I thought I might not see you until next year, with how..”
“Oh, no no no no, I–” He stopped her. “No, I really did want to come. I don’t think I could stand a whole summer without seeing you, after all.”
Cassidy stared at him, almost surprised. She furrowed her eyebrows and quickly looked away with a faint blush. He tried to say something, but didn’t.
“Uh-huh. How romantic of you.” She teased, finally breaking the silence.
“Wh–hey! That’s–”
“I’m kidding,” she laughed, walking back towards the group. “Come on, we don’t have all day.”
Elizabeth was chatting with Charlie and Susie. “So-then-I-was-all-ready-to-go-because-I-wanted-to-come-here-so-badly-but-Dave-wouldn’t-hurry-up-and-find-something-to-wear-and-so-I-had-to-wait-even-longer-and-th–”
“Yeahhh, I’m sure that’s how that happened.” Cassidy cut her off, resting against the side of an arcade machine. Dave stood next to her.
“Shut up, Cassie, it totally is!”
Jeremy nudged Gabriel’s shoulder. “Defend her, dude.”
“Shut up.” Gabriel replied.
After a few more minutes of conversation, Charlie stood back up and reminded the group what they were there for. They followed and went looking for any cool game the arcade might have. They split up; Cassidy and Fritz, Susie and Elizabeth, Jeremy and Gabriel.
Dave couldn’t find Charlie anywhere. She must’ve gone off by herself. He’d probably have to do that too, if he even wanted to play something. Everyone else was already busy, entertained.
You heard the little man!
He wants to get even closer!
…brother’s kind of a baby, isn’t he?
–give Fredbear a big kiss!
NO! I DON’T WANT TO GO!
On THREE!
One…
Two…
Snap. Snap. Snap…
“Hello??” Cassidy waved her hand in front of Dave’s face as he came to his senses. She continued snapping her fingers. “Anyone home?”
Dave shook his head, standing upright again. “Ahh..yeah, yeah, sorry.”
“I was playing against Fritz on that arcade machine over there. Guess who won.”
“You, I’m assuming.”
“You know it!” Cassidy smiled proudly. Dave couldn’t help but smile back at her.
Cassidy leaned on the wall next to Dave, sighing. “Hey, so…how come you’re just standing over here not playing anything?”
“I, uh…it’s nothing, really.”
Cassidy nodded. “You have your…uhm, your dad’s key, don’t you?”
“Yeah, how’d you know?”
“You always have it…”
“Oh, yeah.”
“Do you wanna go away from all this?” Cassidy asked, looking at him directly.
“Huh?”
“I don’t know. Like an employees-only room or something. I’ll go with you.”
Dave was…confused. “But..don’t you want to…to go with them?”
“No, it’s okay. I mean it.” She reassured him.
Dave let out a sigh of relief he didn’t even know he was holding. He made his way to an employees-only door, while Cassidy followed closely. He unlocked it and they went inside, locking it again. They sat on the floor next to each other, without saying a word.
Dave held his knees to his chest, his head down. Eventually, he spoke.
“The nightmares have gotten worse…”
Cassidy sighed. She scooted closer to him, until their shoulders were touching and she nudged him slightly. “I’m sorry.”
He nodded. “It isn’t your fault. I…I should really stop…”
“It’s not like you can control your dreams, Dave. It’s not your fault either.”
He didn’t say anything.
“Are they still about…about the party?”
“Yeah,” he replied quietly. “It’s just so much more vivid now. It was so long ago, I wish I could just move on…”
Cassidy wanted to say something, but she let him continue.
“They’ve gotten so much worse since M..” He began to sob quietly. “Since Mom died, I–”
Dave sobbed even more, shaking. Cassidy froze for a second. Fuck, she muttered.
She held him closely, wrapping her arms around him.
“I miss her so much, Cassie– I miss her so much and I– I– I– I don’t know wh– what to do, ah–..”
Cassidy held him tighter.
“I know, I know, I…” She sighed. “I’m so sorry. I’m so so so sorry.”
He continued crying for a few minutes, until the cries subsided into sobs and the sobs subsided into ragged breaths.
Dave picked himself up from Cassidy’s arms, and wiped his face with his arms. “Ah..I’m…”
“No, please.” Cassidy stopped him. “Don’t say it. It’s fine.”
Dave nodded.
Cassidy paused for a second, then held his hands in hers, tightly. “Look…I’m so…so terribly sorry about…all this. I mean it. I have…no idea what you’re really feeling and I just wish…I really want to help.”
She tilted his chin up, to look at her properly.
“But I can’t help you…I can’t help if you just…lock yourself away all the time, okay?”
She spoke slowly. “I’m so…so proud of you for coming today. It means the world to me. To all of us, even…even if they don’t show it. I promise. I really am.” Dave smiled and nodded with her.
“I just don’t want you to keep this all to yourself…you have me, and Charlie, and…and we’re all here for you!” She paused, trying to keep herself calm.
“I know I’m usually like, mean or whatever, and I don’t show it enough, but you…you mean so much to me, Dave. I’m here for you, and I’ll…I’ll help you, with whatever I can…I just don’t want you to forget that. Okay?”
Dave nodded. “Yeah. Yeah. Th...thank you, Cassidy.”
Cassidy hugged him tightly. He leaned in, wrapping his arms around her as well.
After a few seconds, she pulled back and wiped off some leftover tears from Dave’s face.
“We could stay here. Or go back out. Or you could go home, I– you know. You choose.”
Dave nodded. “Mhm, I…I think I want to go back out with them. Will…will you come with me?”
“Yeah.”
They stood up, their hands brushing together. Cassidy opened the door for him, and they eventually reached their friends again.
When they came back, Elizabeth seemed to be yelling at someone. “No, because you never spend time with us anymore! You’re always here doing whatever it is you do!”
“Adult duties, Lizzie. Adult duties.”
Cassidy replied to the man snarkily. “Yeah, so what do you even do, anyways?”
The man turned around to face Dave and Cassidy, with a grin on his face. Dave and Cassidy’s eyes widened.
Michael Afton.
“I can do many things, kid. But mostly, I’m the manager here at this very restaurant.”
“Uh-huh.” Cassidy replied quietly.
“Hey, little man! It’s so nice to see you! You even brought your girlfriend along today, how cute!”
“Shut up, Michael..” Dave whispered. Michael laughed.
Cassidy snapped back quickly.
“How about you stop bothering us and arguing with ‘kids’, and instead go do your damn job, huh?!”
Michael seemed amused at her attitude. Feisty, he murmured.
“Well, you are correct, child.”
While walking away, he purposefully bumped their shoulders, trying to get a reaction from them.
“I’ll go do my important, adult tasks. You be careful with her, kid,” he quietly said to Dave, smacking him on the back lightly.
When Michael was gone, Cassidy rubbed Dave’s back, even if he didn’t really think she needed to.
“Hate that guy,” she whispered. Dave nodded.
As soon as it had started, the day was already over. Susie got picked up first. Then, Gabriel and Jeremy left together. Fritz left quickly after them. Cassidy got picked up next.
Cassidy spoke to Dave before leaving. “I’ll see you soon. Right?...”
Dave nodded. “Yeah…yeah, soon.”
“You promise?”
“...yes. Yes, I– I promise.”
Cassidy smiled. “Okay, good. I'll hold you to that. See you around, Dave…”
Charlie, Dave, and Elizabeth hung out in the main restaurant area after the rest had left.
“Why’d you…dissapear for half the time, Charlie? I missed you!” Elizabeth asked.
“Huh? Oh, it’s nothing…you guys were all busy playing, I was just..checking out some animatronics backstage, you know…I wasn’t gone for that long anyways!”
“Hmm…okay..”
Eventually, Charlie’s dad, Henry, came to pick her up. Henry was like a distant uncle to the Afton kids, and they wished he would stay longer; but he and Charlie left pretty quickly.
Elizabeth laid on a table, and Dave sat on the floor near her.
Elizabeth spoke. “So, you and Cassidy, mmm? You guys sure missed each other.”
“It’s not like that! Ugh…I want to go home…”
“Yeah, I wonder when Daddy’s coming to get us…”
“Surpriseee!! I’m taking you home!!”
Michael shut the door behind him, grabbing his keys. Dave and Elizabeth groaned.
“Actually, maybe…I think I’d rather stay here…” Dave complained.
Elizabeth yawned. “Totally…”
Michael sighed. “One day, you two will stop pretending that you hate me, and all your little friends will see you for the cute little siblings you are.” He giggled to himself. “Hmm, one day…”
He opened the restaurant doors and walked towards his car. “I’ll wait outside.”
The younger siblings groaned, and eventually made their way towards Michael.
The car ride back home had gotten slow and boring. Elizabeth was nearly falling asleep. Dave leaned his head against the car door window.
CHOMP!
But it didn’t hurt that much. Not this time. He wasn’t so…alone anymore.
Dave whispered,
“Tomorrow is another day.”
“Huh?”
“Huh?”
“Did you just say something?”
“Nope."