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Cassidy dangled her legs from the roof of the car—specifically, Henry Emily's car. It still shined bright orange, even if everyone agreed it had seen better days. Charlie sat on the ground, resting her head against the side of it.
"…and because of that, if I were a princess, I would glow bright gold and I'd have a badass sword with me at all times," Cassidy said.
Charlie chuckled. "What princess carries a sword?"
"Me, duh."
They both laughed at Cassidy's remark.
Charlie and Cassidy both loved when this happened—when they were coincidentally both free and decided to meet at Freddy's. They talked about school, hobbies, crushes, problems, anything that wasn't explicitly off-limits. So, a lot of things.
Cassidy sighed, lighting a cigarette and taking a drag.
Charlie looked up at her, with a mix of surprise and disappointment on her face.
"Cassie, stop!" She said almost instantly. Cassidy turned to face her, curiously. "Huh?"
"That stuff will kill you!"
Cassidy groaned, a small smile playing at her lips. "Cool. I don't plan on making it to my 70's anyway."
Charlie gasped, half-serious. "Hey! You can't not come with us to the nursing home, you know!"
They laughed for a second. "Ugh, that's bull, Charlie, I wasn't planning to anyways. And besides, you've never even tried one of these. They calm me down, okay?"
"Yeah, yeah, whatever…and for the record, I have tried them, don't you remember? And I hated it, they taste like trash."
Cassidy sighed, remaining clouds of smoke coming away from her lips. "Uh-huh. Either way, I'll be fine. If you happen to be right and I do die, it'll be fine. At least I hope so."
Charlie looked up at her friend in confusion. "Huh?"
"Well, I don't want you to get all depressed or something. I would like to think you guys would be fine…"
"Well, I'm sorry," Charlie said, standing up. "You're kind of important to us, you know? Like, a lot of people would be sad?"
Cassidy nodded, hopping off the roof of the car and standing next to Charlie. "Yeah…"
"You shouldn't…say stuff like that, Cassie. You know…"
"Yeah. Yeah, I know. Sorry."
They were quiet for a moment, both thinking about what the other had said. Eventually, Charlie spoke.
"Do you remember your 9th birthday party?"
Cassidy looked at her with slight confusion. "Uh…yeah, it was…the one in the original Freddy's, wasn't it? Like the very first one?"
Charlie nodded, but stayed quiet. Like she was waiting for Cassidy to say something else.
Cassidy's eyes suddenly lit up. "Oh, shit. I'm sorry, I forgot for a second. That's when you and I met, right?"
Charlie nodded again. "You remember how upset you were at first?"
"Well, yeah," Cassidy laughed, "I just thought you were one of the owner's kids that was always there no matter what the event was, and I didn't want a random girl at my party."
"But then…" she continued, "you brought presents for everybody. I mean, I'm pretty sure you gave me the most stuff, rightfully so, but you had something for everyone. And after that, well…I couldn't keep my eyes off of you," she blushed lightly, "I mean, what can I say? That was…it was like a blessing, really."
Charlie laughed. "Okay, you give me too much credit. I just…didn't see why not. And because of that, I got to grow close with you. With everyone."
"Yeah…" Cassidy agreed, "I guess you're right. Why bring that up now?"
Charlie looked at her deeply. "…because, I still think back to that after all these years. And you make it sound like you don't matter to us, but you do. And I want you to know that."
Cassidy paused, then nodded sadly. "Yeah…I know. Thanks." Charlie nodded back.
"Ever the savior, Charlotte," Cassidy laughed softly, "And you never need anyone to save you?"
"Huh?"
"I'm kidding…but you're always helping someone else, and…well, I don't want you to fall somewhere you can't get out of, and then not turn to anyone. We have your back too, you know. I certainly do."
"Aw…thanks, Cassidy." Charlie said, giving Cassidy a hug, which she quickly reciprocated. "I'll keep it in mind."
They sat on the ground close together, watching as the sun slowly went down and occasionally making a comment or two.
"Hey, speaking of my party at Freddy's, do you remember Mr. Afton and that old bunny suit of his?"
"Springbonnie? Yeah, the way he performed was always kinda weird…a little creepy, honestly."
Cassidy nodded. "Totally. Guy's a weirdo," she laughed.
"Mhm," Charlie agreed. "At least Elizabeth isn't so weird," she said as her voice softened, "and she's actually—"
Cassidy laughed. "You're a damn hopeless romantic, girl. Elizabeth, really?"
Charlie blushed furiously. "What?! No! Hey, that isn't what I meant!"
"Sure it wasn't…oh, but thank God Elizabeth isn't so weird," Cassidy mocked in a romantic tone.
"That's not how I said it at ALL!"