Happier (Michael x Noah)

Vanessa

** Hours Later **

When my shift is over, I pull my phone out of my pocket and dial Michael's number. He still doesn't have a car, so he has to come home with me every night. But I already checked his office. He's not there.

He doesn't answer the call. It goes straight to voicemail.

"Hey, you've reached Mike Schmidt at 435-555-8783. Leave a message and I'll get back to you as soon as I'm available," my phone says as it plays his missed call message. After a few seconds of silence, it beeps.

"Hey, Mike, it's Ness. Where are you? My shift is over and I wanna get home so I can eat. I forgot my lunch at home and didn't have time to get something from Salads & Sides. So please call or text me with your location so we can get home and eat food. See ya soon." And I hang up the phone.

I tuck my phone back in my pants pocket and continue looking. Where else could he be? Typically, when he's here after hours, there are many places that he could be. He could be in Sun and Moon's room in the Faztheater, cleaning out lost items and taking them to Lost and Found. Or he could be in Rockstar Row, trying to clean up Monty's messes from the animatronic's "rages," as my fellow employees call them. Or he could be in Bonnie Bowl, working on fixing up Bonnie so he can be brought back. Or he can be working on the broken, glitchy Endo in Parts and Service.

He could also be literally anywhere else.

Ugh! This is going to be impossible.

Suddenly, I spot a moving light along the wall of the second floor. What the hell? What is that? Intrigued, I walk over to the elevators and escalators, walk up the powered-off escalators, and head in the direction of the light. Once I'm in close enough proximity, I spot one of the security S.T.A.F.F. bots hovering around Michael. He's collapsed on the floor, watching as Glamrock Freddy runs over to him.

A few months ago, when his stabilizers were constantly dying because he forgot to charge them, he did a little reprogramming to the S.T.A.F.F. bots and Glamrocks. Now, if one of the patrolling sec bots spots him laying on the floor, they call the nearest Glamrock animatronic to take him to his office. It's been very helpful as of late.

I walk faster to get to Michael's side. By the time I reach him, Freddy has him in his arms and is starting the trek to Michael's office.

"Hello, Officer Vanessa," Freddy greets.

"Hey, Freddy," I reply, a slight chuckle in his voice. I look at Michael, disappointed to see him staring off into the distance. Something is wrong. "Hey, you okay, Mike?"

He doesn't respond. Just keeps staring out into the distance.

"Do you want to take him, Vanessa? Or would you like to take him?" Freddy asks.

"Could you take him to his office, please? That way, it'll be easier for me to get him out to my car so we can go home."

"Of course." He shifts Michael in his arms and starts to walk away, and I trail after him.

~ ~ ~

The first half of the drive to my house is abnormally quiet. Michael is usually such a chatterbox after work. He'll ramble on and on about anything and everything that happened while he was working. Broken S.T.A.F.F. bots, medical emergencies at the Daycare, children asking him questions about the animatronics, paperwork struggles, and more. But now that he's in a catatonic-like state, it's so awkwardly silent. The only sounds are the car engine and our breathing. I had tried the radio, but the stations aren't playing anything good, so I turned it off.

Suddenly, Michael makes a noise that sounds like a whine, a groan, and a whimper at the same time. Seconds later, he starts sobbing uncontrollably.

"What in the---Michael! What's wrong?" I ask worriedly, debating whether or not I should pull over. "What happened? Are you okay?!"

He doesn't respond, so as soon as I'm in a safe place, I pull over and turn on the emergency lights. I rush to unbuckle my seatbelt and get out of the car, going over to the passenger side and opening Michael's car door. I unbuckle his seatbelt and carry him out of the car, then sit down next to the car with him supported in my arms.

I don't try to calm him down. He just needs some time to process his emotions. He'll calm down on his own. He just needs some time, and I completely understand that. Even though it'll take a while, it's better than trying to get him to talk before he's ready. That'll just leave him more upset.

It takes about fifty minutes to an hour, but eventually, he starts to calm down. His crying has started to settle down, and he's no longer choking on his tears like he was when he started crying.

"Are you ready to talk?" I ask softly as I reach up to wipe some of the tears from his face. Well, I try to. He just swings his face away from my hands. I chuckle quietly, adjusting his head so he doesn't start wheezing and choking. He has a diaphragm pacemaker for times when his stabilizers are dead or aren't on, but if his neck is in an awkward position, he starts to choke.

"I... I can't... I can't stop th-thinking about something that N-Noah s-s-said to me earlier," he whispers. "I... I've been trying to ignore it a-and not let it g-g-get to m-me, but I couldn't."

"It's okay. Do you want to tell me what he said? Or do you want to process it better first?"

"Can... Can we w-wait until we get back to y-your house?"

"Yeah, of course."

I chuckle softly, then carefully stand up and help him back into the car. But as I grab his seatbelt to buckle him back into his seat, I notice how pale he is. Like, abnormally pale.

"Are you feeling okay?" I ask nervously. "You look pale."

"Yeah, I'm... I'm fine," he mumbles, closing his eyes. "Just... Just tired."

"Are you sure?"

"Mmhmm."

"If you say so..." With a soft, nervous chuckle, I strap him into his seat and close the passenger door before I get into the car on the driver's side. "Do you want to just go home and go to bed?"

"Mmm-mmm."

"Okay, that's fine," I assure him as I start the car back up. I turn off the emergency lights and continue the drive back to my house. "Do you want to stop and get some takeout before we go home?"

"Not... Not really."

I chuckle. "Okay."