The Fall of the Aftons

138: William Afton

William watched as Noah stood there quietly, holding Michael close as he cried. As livid as William was for what Michael had done, it was still a sweet sight to see.

Once Michael started to calm down a tiny bit, Noah gently pulled himself away, pulling the fingerless glove off of his hand and using it to dry Michael's tears as he spoke to him in a voice too quiet for William to hear. Michael didn't respond, just sniffling softly as he tried to stifle his sobs, nodding.

"I'm going to go ask one of the nurses for Evan's surgery status," Noah explained as he turned to look at William. "I'll be back in a few minutes. Try not to kill each other while I'm gone." And he walked away, ruffling Michael's hair as he walked past him.

Michael hesitantly looked at William, using Noah's glove to wipe the tears from his cheeks. "I... I know I said this already, but I'm... truly sorry," he said quietly, hiccupping. "I-I-It was n-never my intention for a-a-any of this to happen. I-I didn't w-want him to get hurt, I swear."

William scoffed, looking away. "I don't want to fuckin' hear it. Just because you didn't want him to get hurt doesn't mean that he wouldn't get hurt. And now he is, all because of you."

He hiccupped. "B-But—"

"No, no buts," William snapped, glaring at him. "You were always whining and complaining about the Bite of '83, and now you just pulled the same crap on your brother! You— You made him the bloody Bite of '87!" Michael opened his mouth to say something, but he cut him off, not done yet. "It just wasn't enough, huh?! Living wasn't enough for you? You just had to make your brother go through the same thing!"

Michael took off in a sprint, running away. But William caught him by the arm, knowing exactly what he was doing. He cautiously dragged Michael in front of him and held him in a restraining embrace, both trying to keep him in one spot as well as comfort him. "Nice try, but you're not going to your little hideout closet," William muttered, holding him closer.

All of a sudden, Michael broke down. He crumpled to the floor, pulling William down with him as he started to sob again. William pulled him closer in an attempt to offer some kind of comfort, even though he was still pissed.

"Woah, what happened?" Noah's voice suddenly rang out, his footsteps echoing through the hallway as he rushed over to William and Michael. "He was finally starting to calm down! What the hell did you say to him?" He put his hands beneath Michael's arms, gently lifting him onto his feet and wrapping him in a hug. "I've got you, Mikey... I've got you..." he said quietly, giving William a quick glare before urging Michael along the path of the hallway, walking away.

~ ~ ~

William hummed Ballora's song to himself as he flipped chairs off of the tables in Fazbear's dining room. Normally, he would be doing this at Fredbear's and spend his day there instead, but it was closed for the day so Henry could try to clean the blood out of the springlock suit.

As he was in the process of moving to the next table, in the span of twenty blurry seconds, Michael came running into the dining room, screaming, and hid behind William. Mark, Frederick, and Simon came charging in behind him, all three of them shouting at him.

"Enough!" William screamed over the boys' overlapping voices, his voice echoing throughout the room. The three boys instantly shut up. "What are you guys arguing about? One person at a time."

"Michael called Noah last night and told him what happened yesterday—even though we specifically told him not to!" Mark explained lividly, pointing an accusatory finger at Michael.

"I told you, it wasn't me! It was Simon!" Michael exclaimed, sticking his head out from behind William, then cowered back behind when Mark scowled at him.

"I didn't call him," Simon countered, seeming mildly offended.

Michael screamed when Frederick lunged to grab him, but William held him back, pushing Michael further behind him.

"Michael is right," William explained, giving Frederick a quick glare. "Simon is the one who called Noah. Noah openly told him yesterday at the hospital that Simon had called to explain what happened. Michael and I didn't even have quarters on us yesterday to call anyone from the hospital payphones."

"But I didn't! I never called him! I don't even know his number," Simon shouted.

Mark, who William hadn't even noticed had snuck behind him, dragged Michael out from behind him and pulled him into a headlock. Michael flailed, trying to get loose, but he immediately stopped fighting when Mark muttered something into his ear.

"You will let go of my son right now or else I will fire all of you on the spot this instant!" William threatened, meaning every word.

"No, you won't. Because you need all of the help you can get with Fredbear's being closed today. You'll have more people here today 'cause people can't go to the diner," Mark said, smirking. "Besides, don't you need Mister Henry's permission to fire employees?"

"No, actually, I don't." William sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Let go of him right now, and I won't fire you at the end of the day."

Mark squinted his eyes in suspicion before dropping Michael to the ground. Michael fell to the floor, gasping for air for minutes straight. Once he caught his breath, he stood up and hid behind William again, watching as the three boys left the room.

"Okay, what the hell was that about?" William asked, turning around to look at Michael with a cold glare. "Why were they screaming at you? Why was Mark trying to choke you?"

Michael looked away, nervously fidgeting with the hem of his shirt. "I don't want to talk about it..." he mutters, walking away.