The Fall of the Aftons

027: Michael Song

Michael made his bed, smoothing out wrinkles in his blanket and pillowcase. He sat on the floor in front of his small be as he held Fredbear to his close to his chest. He looked around at the surroundings in his new bedroom. Everything was new besides the few things he brought to the Center. He had tried to make his room look like the one he had shared with Khael. But it wasn't the same. He didn't have two beds. The walls were a yellowish-orange--not a disgusting, familiar, teal-ish green like the other. There were sliding glass doors that led to a small patio extended from the roof, whereas the only window in his old room was a single large one in the wall to the side of his bed. He didn't have a closet in this room, so that problem had been fixed with a big closet-like bureau, but he had one he shared with Khael in his old room. They had often hidden in it when they were home alone as Aster was at work, especially when someone knocked on the front door or when it was cold outside. There were many minute details, too, such as the larger desk and brown, wooden chair under it. As well as the main thing: Khael wasn't there.

There was suddenly a series of four knocks on the door before it opened with a loud creak. "Oh, man, these doors seriously need to be oiled," Terrance said as he walked through the doorway. He chuckled to himself, then looked at Michael. His smile faded. "Are you all right, Michael?"

Michael focused on studying a knot in a wood panel on the floor. His eyes burned with unshed tears as he lied, "Y-Yeah. I'm fine."

"Not used to sleeping here. I get it. I struggled with that, too, when William and I first got here."

Michael didn't know how to respond. How was he supposed to, anyway? He looked at his feet, staying quiet. A lot of people expected responses to things that didn't have answers. Why would you expect a response when you said something impossible to respond to? Just another reason why Michael usually stayed quiet.

"You have no clue what boundaries are in place, do you?" Terrance asked suspectingly as he sat down on the floor, his back against the bedframe. Michael looked at him. "Well? Yes or no?" he asked again as he stared off into the distance. 

Michael shook his head, hesitant to speak. "I knew what they were before he adopted me, but now..." He failed to finish his sentence. He couldn't figure out how to end it. Warm tears started to trickle down the sides of his cheeks but he wiped them away. He turned and hoped Terrance didn't see. He lifted his arm to get rid of more but Terrance stopped him.

"Cry it out, Michael. It's clear that you have things to let out."

"W-What?"

He took Michael's hand in his. "Let it out, Mike."