RUBATOSIS | William Afton x Reader

III. HAZE

(CONTENT WARNING: Mild gore, blood, alcohol, British people)

-mostly a filler chapter, please enjoy! ^^

You held a knife in your dominant hand, slicing through the meat before you on the cutting board. It wasn't much, just various salamis and sausages. The cheese you'd already prepared sat fashionably on a large platter, waiting for its meat and cracker counterparts. Your mom's dinner party was in just half an hour now, you realized as your watch displayed the time 5:30pm. There should be plenty of time to finish preparing the salamis and arrange a veggie tray. Your mother stood at the other end of the kitchen, mixing cocktails and chatting away mindlessly at you.

    You couldn't help but sweat a bit, nervous of the awkwardness tonight would bring. Your mom had kept the same circle of friends since you were a child and you'd interacted with them plenty of times, but it was always easier with Cassidy. She would light up the room with her innocent wonder and playful jabs, entertaining any crowd with ease. Your sister was a rather hostile kid, but that trait was hard to take seriously coming from such a small, seemingly unthreatening little being. Instead, it would only further amuse people.

You couldn't help but worry that your mom's friends would start talking about Cassidy tonight. Your inner monologue was one thing, but you didn't know if those thoughts were ready to spill out from your mouth yet. It was still too new, too fresh. You still had a hard time accepting the fact that she was probably gone.

Dead... That word hurt to even think in this scenario. No. If they wanted to talk about her, you would simply excuse yourself.

You slowed the pace of your chopping when you noticed your hands were shaking. You were nearing the end of this salami, and only one more remained after that. You drew a deep breath of air into your lungs and released it slowly, attempting to ground yourself by listening to the words that continuously left your mother's mouth as she went about her business.

"Tammy said she'd bring a few decks of cards, too. You don't have to play any games with us if you don't want to, but they're really quite fun! Especially after a drink or two." She laughed as she continued to drone on, mixing whatever liquor with whatever juice or soda. You really didn't care to know the difference between the mixtures she was laying out. You just wanted to get this over with. At least she seems to be doing okay, you thought as you recalled your mother's previous hosting failures. You wondered what made this time different, and felt sick when you made the connection.

She didn't have to worry about Cassidy anymore; what she was going to eat, what she might do to embarrass her in front of her friends, how late she was going to stay up. You fully stopped the pace of your knife now, fighting a nauseous feeling. You knew about the distaste your mom had for Cassidy, but you didn't think it would carry on after her disappearance. Cass was a lot like your dad from what you could remember, and you could only assume that that had to be the reason for your mom's aggression towards her. But you also assumed that she still loved and cared for her child. You dropped the meat being held in your non-dominant hand and brought the forearm attached to it up to your forehead, anxiously wiping off the perspiration gathering there.

Get a fucking grip, y/n. Everyone's gonna be here soon.

With the knife still in your other hand, you made your way to the dish cabinet and pulled out a short glass. You rushed it over to the sink and filled it with room-temperature tap water from the faucet. You threw back the drink and downed it in seconds, trying to dim your anxiety and rage. Your mom observed the sudden action as she started plopping ice cubes into every drink. You slammed the glass down onto the counter when you were done, leaving it by the sink and returning to your station at the cutting board. You silenced your drumming thoughts and got back to work, hastily cutting away at the salami now.