The Fall of the Aftons

159: Michael Afton

Michael stood against the door in his room, breathing heavily as he struggled not to cry, staring at everything in his room. There was so much crap everywhere now, so much to the point where he could barely get around it. There were endoskeletons, repair parts, screws, nails, plastics, fabrics, and tools all over the floor. He tried to stay as organized as he could, but it was difficult. Now that both William and Henry were dead, he had to repair all of the endo- and exoskeletons himself. It was rough. There was so much hard work to do in the replacement of the two of them, and it was starting to become too much.

Why was all of this happening? Why were the Aftons dropping like flies? I mean, could he and Elizabeth be considered Aftons anymore? The only biological Afton left was William, and he was dead. Did that mean he and Beth had to switch back to their birth last names?

"But I don't know my last name?" Michael thought out loud, sighing heavily. "I know what Beth's was, but I don't know mine..." He groaned and slumped to the floor, still leaning against the door when someone suddenly knocked on it.

"Michael? Michael, it's Noah. Can I come in?" Noah's familiar voice called from outside.

Michael stood up with a grunt and opened the door, slinking out from behind it before shutting it behind him.

"Hey," Noah greeted, a sad smile on his face.

"Hey," he mumbled in response. "What are you doing here?"

"Your sister called and asked if I could come over, claiming something bad had happened," Noah answered, chuckling softly. "So what's going on?"

Michael sniffled softly, looking away. "The... The police found out. About Henry, I mean," he mumbled, wrapping his arms around himself.

"Dammit... I'm so sorry, Michael," he said sadly, pulling Michael in for a tight hug. "Are you and Beth going to foster care now?"

Michael nodded, burying his face in Noah's shoulder. "I f-feel so bad... I don't want to go into foster care, I don't want to risk losing my sister, I don't..."

"Hey, hey, hey, it's okay," he promised, hugging Michael tighter. "It's okay. My family can help you, okay? We can foster you and Elizabeth until you turn eighteen, then everything will be fine. Okay?"

"But you already have so many siblings, I don't want to cause your father to stress with even more kids in the house," Michael said, sniffling softly, feeling like he was about to cry.

"Mikey, he loves you. My whole family does. Do you know how excited they were when I told them you and I were dating the morning after the dance? Everyone was cheering so loud that Sunnimae could feel the vibrations of the shouting through the floor."

He chuckled softly, his voice shaking. "Yeah, that's not surprising... Your family was very obvious about how much they thought you and I would be a good couple." He sniffled softly, rubbing his eyes. "I just... I don't want to cause any problems. Especially since Beth doesn't like moving houses, and with her sensory issues and asthma, having that many people in a house may be too much on her."

"It's okay. We'll figure it out. My dad's good with special needs kids, you know that," Noah said softly, pulling away slightly to wipe the tears from Michael's eyes, smiling sadly. "He can help her. And you can help him help her—you know her better than anyone."

Michael sighed, burying his face in Noah's shoulder. "Okay," he mumbled begrudgingly. "If your dad's fine with it, you can foster us once we're in the system."

Noah chuckled, rubbing his back. "We would've regardless if you gave us permission or not."