Y/n's POV:
"I'm sorry... This is all my fault... I should've never let you go... I'm so sorry..."
•••
I groaned quietly, not wanting to open my eyes. But I did out of fear to fall back asleep and have another one of those stupid nightmares. I knew they had some meaning behind them. But what was it?
Suddenly, something caught my attention out of the corner of my eye. I brought my head up and looked over at the foot of my bed to see Michael sitting there, facing away from me. I couldn't see his face but I could tell something was bothering him.
"Michael?" I called out sleepily as I reached out and turned on the night lamp. He turned around to look at me.
"Yes?"
"Why aren't you asleep?" I asked.
"Oh, I... just can't sleep."
I pushed myself up before crawling out from under the covers to sit next to him. Once I was beside him, I put my hand on his back.
"What's going on?"
He didn't say anything. He just stared at the floor with distress in his eyes.
"I don't want to talk about it."
I wanted to ask questions. I wanted to know what was going on in his mind. I wanted to help him. But he clearly didn't want to talk about it.
"Come on, at least get some sleep. Whatever's bothering you, I bet it's nothing some cuddling can't fix," I said. He smiled tiredly.
"I think you're right."
I turned back to my side of the bed and made my way under the covers again before turning off the lamp on my nightstand. He gladly did the same, making his way next to me. I slung an arm around his side.
"Whatever you have on your mind, just push it aside for now," I said. "You deserve a good night's rest. Okay?"
He sighed. "Okay."
Michael pulled me closer and held onto me, somewhat anxiously. I could feel his heart pounding a mile a minute.
"Are you gonna be okay?" I asked quietly.
"Huh?"
"I mean... I guess you don't have to tell me what's bothering you if you don't want to. But whatever it is... is it going to turn out okay?"
He let out another sigh, resting his chin on my shoulder. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't be worrying you," he apologized.
"It's alright. Whatever it is, I'm sure you have a legitimate reason to be worried."
"Well... you're not wrong about that," he muttered.
He moved his head from my shoulder and looked at me before putting his hand on my cheek. He gave me a reassuring smile.
"I have a question... it's hypothetical of course," he began. "If anything ever happened to me... would you be okay?"
"What?"
"You'd be okay without me... right?"
"I— why are you— Michael, what are you talking about?" I stammered. "Why are you asking me this?"
He didn't answer for a moment but then sighed. "It's just... we're never promised tomorrow. I just want to know if you'd be alright."
"I mean... if anything happened to you, I don't know what I'd do. I'd be miserable, that's for sure."
"But would you be okay?"
"Probably not, honestly."
He sighed.
"But what about you?" I asked. "What if something happened to me? Would you be okay?"
He scoffed, resting his head back on my shoulder. "Are you kidding? I'd be miserable without you. I'd be anything but okay."
I sighed. "Me too."
"But... even though it'd be hard without me... you'd take care of yourself, wouldn't you?"
"I... don't know."
"I'd want you to."
"Well, I guess I'd have to continue living life. But that doesn't mean it'd be easy. It'd be a lot harder."
He took a deep breath. "That's... understandable."
"Are you sure there's no specific reason why you're asking me about this?"
"It's nothing. Just wondering."
I was so sick of that answer. I was so sick of him telling me that all his worries, all the things that were going on were all "nothing." I wanted a real answer. I wanted to know what was going on so that I could help him. Because he needed my help. I could tell.
I sighed. I couldn't help but think about what he said about how we're "never promised tomorrow." What was the real reason he asked me that?
"You okay?" He asked quietly.
"Yeah... I'm okay."
My thoughts continued drifting, and eventually, he ended up falling asleep. He really was exhausted.
I tried to fall asleep as well, but I couldn't. His question just kept lingering in the back of my mind constantly. What was going on that he wasn't telling me about? Because clearly there was something going on.
A part of me wanted to wake him up and beg for him to tell me what was going on until he finally opened up to me and told me what was going on. I desperately wanted to help him. I wanted to somehow put an end to whatever was bothering him. Or for all I know, whatever was putting him in danger.
The more and more I thought, the more and more my mind started spiraling out of control like a tornado. I had this horrible feeling in my gut which told me that there was a reason he asked me that. Like something bad was soon going to happen; something very bad.
Gosh, why couldn't our lives be normal?
Our lives had never been normal. Not back when we were teenagers, not when we were young adults, and not now.
Because right now, there was something going on.
Something abnormal.
And I was going to find out what it was.
•••
Michael's POV:
I woke up to an empty bed. Just like I always had this past week. I always wished I could still wake up to y/n by my side.
Well, it had only been a week. But it felt like a lot longer than that.
I groaned, pushing myself up so that I was sitting up. I grabbed my phone that was on my nightstand to see if I had any notifications. And sure enough, I had a notification from Henry.
"Just texting you to remind you about work. Make sure not to come tonight. Got it?"
That's right. Henry didn't want me to come to work that night. I had completely forgotten about him telling me that.
But for whatever reason he didn't want me to come, it made sense. Nearly everything was dangerous about that job, so surely there was something even more dangerous about to happen tonight.
But I still wanted to know the real reason. So I decided to text back.
"I still don't understand. Why don't you want me to come?"
I waited for several minutes only to get no response. I figured he wasn't going to tell me, so I decided to drop it.
In all honesty, Henry's idea to text me about not coming to work that night wasn't the best idea.
Because if anything, I was now for sure going to work now.
The day flew by way faster than I expected. Before I knew it, it was 11:20. Ten minutes before I normally left for work. But as I was getting ready, I felt absolutely miserable. Like something was restraining me from leaving. And I could tell y/n felt the same way. Not to mention, she was awfully quiet. Something was making her nervous. I could tell.
As I stood in the mirror, fixing my hair, I heard my phone go off. I picked it up to see that it was—not very surprisingly—Henry. Another reminder not to come in.
"Who is it?" y/n asked, once she saw me looking at my phone. She tried looking over my shoulder and read my text, but I quickly put it in my pocket before she could see.
"Just uh– a spam number. Texting about my car's extended warranty," I lied with a bit of a chuckle, trying to lighten the mood. "Nothing new."
"Mhm... if you say so."
She looked down at the floor, not saying a word. It was unusual. She usually wasn't this quiet unless something was bothering her.
"Everything okay?" I asked, putting my comb down and facing her.
"Yeah... I'm fine," she muttered, not taking her eyes off the ground.
"You know I'll be okay," I told her. "I always am."
She sighed before finally looking up at me. "Is it wrong of me to say that I don't believe you?"
I cleared my throat. "No. Not at all. I get where you're coming from. But I'll be fine. I promise."
"You can't tell me you don't feel it too," she protested.
"Feel what?"
"You have to feel like there's something off about tonight. It can't just be me. Don't you feel like tonight you just shouldn't go?"
I went quiet, not knowing how to respond.
"...Don't you?" she asked again.
I cleared my throat. "Every night is like that, y/n. I mean, yeah, I'm always a bit nervous to go. But I know I'll be okay."
"No, tonight is different. I know it."
"Y/n, it's not—"
"Michael, please don't go."
I went quiet again. I knew exactly how she felt. I knew I shouldn't go tonight. But I had to. I had to for Elizabeth. I fought to get her back once before, and just because I got hurt in the process doesn't mean I wasn't willing to do it again. I needed to help her.
"Y/n, I—"
Suddenly my watch went off, reminding me that it was time to go. She firmly grabbed my wrist, taking me by surprise.
"At least wait until Monday before going back," she pleaded. "I'm begging you."
"What makes you so worried about tonight?"
"I don't know, but I can just... I can just feel it. I can just tell that something's not right," she insisted. Then she sighed. "Do you remember that night when we got scooped?"
"Vividly. But how does that have to do with any of this?"
"This is just like that night! I was nervous about going to work that day. You were nervous before going to work that day too! We ignored that fear, and looked at what happened to us."
"Come on, y/n, I wasn't nervous—"
"You were!" She snapped. "You told me so!"
I guess she was right. Now that she brought it up, I did remember.
"Alright, fine, I'm just a little nervous today for some reason. But you know, it's normal, how can someone not be afraid of this place?"
"That was a coincidence."
"Coincidences don't happen! You're acting just like you did that night!" She argued.
"What are you talking about?"
"What was it that you said to me? 'Seriously y/n, we don't need to worry. I always feel a little off when coming here. We'll be fine. We've been able to survive four other nights, how much worse can tonight be?'!" she went on, imitating my past self. "You don't sound much different right now!"
"Listen to me, y/n," I stated, firmly resting my hands on her shoulders. "I'll be okay."
"You always say that Michael, but you know it's not true!" she argued, shoving me away. "You're not just lying to me, but you're lying to yourself!"
"Listen, I can't be late, I—"
"You know it's not true!" she repeated. "You can't tell me otherwise!"
I sighed. She was right. I knew I was lying.
"Look, I'm a bit nervous too, alright?" I admitted. "I always am. But everything will turn out fine. It always does."
"Michael, just listen to me for once in your life, dammit!" She yelled.
"Y/n, you don't understand!" I protested. "My sister is missing for a second time! I need to save her! Even if it means taking on a dangerous job! But you know I've already died once, y/n! I can't die again!"
"No, Michael. You can't go tonight. Something's not right, I can feel it!"
"I'm going to work tonight! End of story!"
"Why do you want to go so badly?!" she argued. "There can't possibly be anything that makes your job pleasant!"
"I already told you, I'm doing it for Elizabeth! This is the only way I can get her back!"
"There's no other way you can save her? Seriously?" she scoffed. "You can't do this in the daytime when it's safe and people are around? You can't let me help you?"
"When you helped me find Elizabeth the first time, you died! When you tried finding William, he tried to kill you again! So no, you can't help me!"
"Well, if you're so worried that I'll 'die again,' how are you not worried that the same thing very well might happen to you?!" She fought.
"Because you don't think this stuff through, y/n!" I went on. "When you went to Fazbear Frights to find William, you clearly were not thinking logically! Who knows what stupid things you'll do if you come with me! I can't trust you with this sort of stuff!"
"Clearly you don't think things through either, Michael!" she exclaimed. "When you signed up for this job you weren't thinking things through!"
"I'm done talking about this," I snapped, walking away towards the front door.
"Michael!"
I grabbed my keys and wallet which were on the table next to the front door, but she came up behind me and grabbed my arm, causing me to turn around to look at her.
"Michael, you can't leave!"
"I'm leaving. And I'll come back in the morning, perfectly safe. Like always."
"Don't—"
"Bye, y/n."
I unlocked the door before opening it and closing it behind me. I went to lock it, but I stopped in my tracks before I could. I stared at the door for a moment or two, waiting to see if y/n would open it back up to properly say goodbye to me like she normally did. But it stayed closed.
I reached for the doorknob, debating with myself if I should go back inside to at least give her a goodbye kiss before leaving.
But I decided against it. Clearly, she didn't care to say bye, so why should I care either?
Instead, I locked the door and headed toward my car.
And before I knew it, I was on my way to work.
Without a single clue of what might happen that night.
A/N: Okay, WOW. I am SO sorry. I shouldn't have taken three months to upload. I was on a writer's block, so I was working a crap ton on my Sammy Lawrence x Reader book instead and abandoned this one for way too long💀
I hope you forgive me🥲