The Fall of the Aftons

014: William Afton

Henry had slept over every night at William's house for weeks now. William didn't mind, though. He liked having his friend over, even if it meant he was teased ten times more often than he normally was.

William started to button up his shirt as he double-checked that he had already pulled out the necklace from under his shirt. He slid the collar pieces over the looped string of the necklace. The necklace was a pale blue topaz gem set into a small ring of silver, a thin line of smooth deep brown leather keeping it together. The leather used to be a skinny string of fake silver, but the semi-cheap chain broke back in high school. Henry had given him the necklace back in fifth grade, having bought himself one, too. Their necklaces matched one another as a symbol of their long-lasting friendship. Henry had a deep purple amethyst and William had.... well, a pale blue topaz. William's favorite color was dark purple, Henry's sky blue. A small symbol of how well the two knew each other.

"Uncle Will?"

William turned around. His half-buttoned shirt allowed cold air in and a shiver went down his spine. Terrance chuckled, then motioned for him to follow before walking off. He walked after his nephew, who led him to the kitchen where Henry stood at the island counter, slicing something with a small knife. Terrance sat down on one of the stools tucked underneath the counter and took a slice of whatever Henry was cutting up, popping it into his mouth. Henry looked up at William and snorted. William's expression morphed into one of confusion.

"What are you doing? Are you trying to impress a man with your abs or something?" Henry joked, his voice silly.

William crossed his arms over his exposed torso. His face burned with embarrassment. "I don't have abs," he said matter-of-factly, rolling his eyes. "I'm not even all that strong in the first place. You're the strong one. You've always been the strong one."

"Um, I don't mean to interrupt but, Uncle, you do have abs. Have you not looked in the mirror lately?" Terrance asked, laughter filling his sort of high-pitched voice. 

William looked down and looked under his shirt, gasping when he saw he actually did have abs. When he looked back up, he saw how Henry was eyeing him with a look that was impossible to decipher. "What?" he asked nervously, not liking the way he was being scrutinized. "I-Is there something wrong?"

Henry shrugged halfheartedly, still studying him. 

"Uh, Henry?" he said louder, trying to get his friend's attention. 

Henry laughed, then looked at William with a mischievous expression. "Nothing's wrong. I'm just wondering how much you could probably lift. At least two hundred pounds, no?" he asked.

William's face burned more. "I doubt it," he muttered, even though the animatronic endoskeletons that Henry had him set up on the stage each morning were far over three hundred pounds. "Why are we still talking about this?" 

Henry shrugged, his face still painted with a devilishly mischievous grin. "Why haven't you buttoned up your shirt yet, Afton?" 

William nearly choked out of embarrassment. "S-Sorry," he mumbled as he buttoned up his shirt as fast as he could. Henry burst out laughing as Terrance started chuckling. William's face felt like it was going to blow up as Henry continued to laugh on and on like he was told that the world was ending in five seconds.

~ ~ ~

William couldn't sleep. Tomorrow was the first day that Fredbear's would open to the public. He was excited. But also scared. And really, really, really, really, really nervous. No matter what he did, he couldn't keep his eyes shut long enough to fall asleep. Soon he grew too restless to stay in bed anymore. So he stood up and walked around the room, fidgeting with the fabric string loose from his jim-jams shirt sleeve. But all of a sudden, the air was sealed off from his bedroom. He shoved on his boots--it was already snowing outside, even though it was the beginning of November--and his wool hat, slipped on his jacket, then walked straight outside of his bedroom and out of his house. He carefully eased the door shut so it wouldn't wake Henry sleeping on the couch. The fresh, freezing air felt good in William's lungs, and he took in quite a few large deep breaths. 

He looked up at the night sky. It was cloudy because of the mild snowing, but there were a few gaps in the clouds where you could see a lot of stars through. He could see half of the constellation of the Big Dipper, the only constellation he knew and could recognize easily without the large constellation map his stepfather gave him when he was a teen. He sat down on the singular step in front of his door. Sure, it was wet, but he didn't care. He was warm in his jacket, jim-jams, hat, gloves, and boots. But he didn't stay sitting long. He was still too restless. So he stood up, wiped off the few snowflakes that had collected, and went over to the garage. He didn't open it; that would've made too much noise. He just leaned against the door. He sighed, a little relaxed by the peaceful view. Living in a town that was on the smaller side had its advantages sometimes. 

The front door creaked open, then slid gently into place. What in the world?  He peeked out from behind the garage and spotted Henry lying down the barely snowflake-sprinkled cement pathway that led from the driveway to the door. Henry's beautiful green eyes stared into the sky, his lips forming a slight smile. 

"What in bloody hell is wrong with me?" William whispered to himself, shaking his head so hard that it hurt his neck and made his long hair whip his face. The lips? Seriously? He sighed, aggravated with himself. Henry snapped up to a sitting position, scanning the area with wide eyes. William hadn't seen Henry afraid in years. He was always so brave. 

"Hello? Who's there?" Henry whisper-shouted. William felt bad for making him panic and stepped out from behind the garage. Henry sighed a breath of relief and mumbled, "Oh, thank goodness. It's just you. I thought you were a robber or burglar." He chuckled quietly. 

William chuckled nervously, flashbacks from his childhood playing behind his eyes. "Yep. Just good ol', good-for-nothing me," he muttered glumly. 

Henry groaned, annoyed. "Will, you know I didn't mean it like that," he explained himself. He sounded like he was whining more than anything. He patted the pavement next to him and William sat down next to him. "You know aren't 'good-for-nothing.' Your stepfather lied to you to have leverage over you and your siblings."

William nodded his head, fully used to hearing this. He never believed his friend, but he still went along with it.

"Why are you out here?" Henry asked as he laid back down on the ground. William joined him, and Henry rested his hand on the spot where William's wrist was just barely exposed, where his glove didn't meet with his sleeve. William's stomach did a backflip, and he had to keep himself from squirming under Henry's warm touch. 

"My room was a prison."

"Wait, what?"

"My room felt like it was suffocating me, it was too... overbearing, I guess."

Henry hummed thoughtfully. "I had thought I heard you come out here, and when I didn't see you anywhere, I figured I'd go back inside. But the fresh air feels really nice, so I stayed."

"Oh," was all William could think to say.

The two of them stayed there for probably around a good forty minutes before Henry claimed he was too cold, so they both headed back inside. William let Henry sleep in his room so he could properly warm up, and William just stared at the calendar on the wall of the living room.