Taken in by the mystery, you took the hand he was offering out to you. His gloved hand seemed to fit in perfectly with yours. He led you to a part of town you'd never seen before; one that was more like the world you animated for a living. It was Bendy's world.

"Bendy, my gosh, why did you take me here? If I wanted to see some storyboards them I would have stayed at the studio!"

"Remember that little secret space you drew me in this world exactly one year ago?"

"Of course, Bendy. It's where we met."

"Heh. Yeah. That's kinda​ why we're here."

You took in a panorama of the world you helped create. Drawing it was one thing, but actually being there- it was beyond words.

The secret place you had drawn Bendy was near the lake, a place where several episodes had taken place. It was accessible by the pull of a branch from a tree. After that one would open it up to find a staircase. At the bottom of the staircase, it was like living in your mom's basement. Unlimited supplies of ink, shelter and entertainment waited down there. Bendy was grateful to you for giving him such a space.

"Alrighty, doll, we're here," Bendy said as he reached the bottom of the staircase. "Why don't you, uh, make yourself comfortable, grab some ink? I've got something to show you."

Oh boy. Now was the time. Bendy disappeared into a closet, and you grabbed a bottle of ink from an icebox you had drawn. The taste of ink was interesting- and not quite as toxic as people say. Sure, you'll throw up the first couple sips but after that, you're golden. Absolutely​ golden. You opened the small ink well and took a couple more sips. It completed the ink already on your lips. After a few minutes, you noticed that Bendy was still in the closet.

"Bendy? You okay?"

No response.

"Bendy, are you okay," you queried again, standing up from your seat to get to the closet.

You found Bendy, with that same little black box you saw hidden in your desk earlier. It filled you with glee to see it again.
He opened it, then snapped it shut at the sight of you.

"Hi-hi there...I was just coming out. Still gotta show you that, uh, thing." He paused for a moment. "Eh, forget it. I'll show you now."

He proceeded exactly as you had pictured in your head. On one knee, Bendy produced that little black box and opened it. Inside was a quaint ring with barely even a diamond inside. You couldn't have asked for better, though.

"So, uh, you get the whole gist of why we came here, and um," he trailed off, paused again and stared at the floor. "Will you mar-"

You tackled him to the ground before he could get through with his question. "Yes!"

"Alrighty then, I'll just skip this ring on your finger and consider us engaged, huh?"

He slid the ring on your finger, and, after stealing a couple of quick kisses from you, poured you both a glass of ink- but aged. He held his up, and clinked it against yours.

"To us," he toasted. And without a second thought, you both downed the ink within moments.

Bendy offered you some more, and you would have accepted were it not for the blaring sirens. It blasted in your ears, as if a little ambulance was driving along inside your head. You were brought to your knees, with your hands cupped over your ears to make the intense shrillness of it quieter. Bendy rushed to your side, but it was too late, you were on the ground.

A bright flash of light found you sitting in the back of an ambulance. Henry watched you from the back as the paramedics stood over you. They were trying to determine what was wrong, and only one thing came to mind- the ink on your lips and coat.

"... was found just guzzling a bottle of ink, like it was water!"

"That's insane."

You saw the paramedics talking above you and decided to pitch into the conversation.

"No, sirs, you see, the ink was for me and Bendy over-"

You glanced over to your side, and Bendy was no longer there. Shocked, you glared back at the paramedics. "We're getting married."  

"Bendy? Who's Bendy?"  

"A waste of everyone's time," Henry remarked from the back seat.

"Hey, you take that back," you shouted as you attempted to lurch at Henry. "Bendy is a perfectly good fiance!"

The paramedics held you down on your cot, and by that time you had already arrived at the hospital. Eventually exhaustion had gotten the best of you and you fell asleep, never to wake up. The doctor determined that it was ink poisoning.

*******

"We drove another employee insane," Henry said when he arrived at Joey's office after hours. "I found that one sleeping among bottles of empty ink, thinking that Bendy had proposed to 'em. Poor kid."

"How do we know that our employee was of sound mind?"

Henry threw down your coat onto Joey's desk. He had asked to keep it after your death for "sentimental reasons", he had explained.

"This one was 'of sound mind'. Your stupid cartoon is hurting people, Joey. We already have Sammy getting​ obsessed with Bendy, and another one thought that they were gonna marry him."

Joey did not turn around in his chair. Silence grew between the men, and Henry gave up. He sighed heavily, shaking his head as he walked out of Joey's office, never to be seen again. The ink splotches remained soaked into your coat, and Joey simply put it on the rack in his office, just as he had done many times before.

********

When Henry went to clean out your things, he found the secret compartment in your desk. It was packed with empty ink bottles, drawings of Bendy and Boris, and a little black box. He shuddered at the sight and cleared it out as quickly as he could. Soon after, Henry himself disappeared from the studio.

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