Another Five Nights

Epilogue

[Remember when I said ships were unlikely? That doesn't apply to the epilogue. Only the main story.]

"REALLY!? YOU'RE ENDIN' IT THERE!?"

I laughed a little as Toby crossed his arms over his chest sulkily, leaning back against the couch, pouting.

"Relax... I'll tell you the rest soon... consider this an 'intermission' of sorts," I soothed.

Jeremy entered the room with a tray of mugs in his hands.
"Good even' to you both. Either of you fancy a nice warm cuppa' hot choc?" he said, with probably the worst British impression I'd ever heard.

"Why, indeed, I do fancy one," I said, exaggerating my own accent. "What I don't fancy, however, is that bloody voice of yours that sounds like an Australian pelican, Lord Fitzgeraldington!"

Jeremy laughed so hard that I feared he would drop the tray. Fortunately, he controlled his laughter for just long enough to put it down onto the coffee table.

It was nice to watch him laugh this freely. He'd been awfully quiet when we'd first reunited. Now, over the years, he'd grown much more comfortable with himself and everyone else.
He looked so sweet when he laughed too! I sometimes wish he'd do it all the time.

Uncle Henry had entered the living room by this time.
"What joke did I miss?" he enquired, when he saw Jeremy, Toby and I all laughing our hearts out.

"Australian pelican... Lord Fitzgeraldington... I can't--" peals of laughter caught Jeremy mid-sentence.

"Australian... what?"

Uncle Henry's confusion made us laugh even harder, which, in turn, caused him to laugh as well, though he had no idea what was happening.

When the laughter finally died down, we all breathed a bit and I picked up a mug of hot chocolate from the tray. As soon as I took a sip, though, my eyes met Jeremy's and we both burst into laughter again, causing the warm, sweet liquid in my mouth to, rather unpleasantly, gush out of my nose and get spilled all over myself, which in turn threw Toby into another fit of giggles.

Charlie peeked out of her bedroom door to see what in Scott's name was happening in her living room.
She was dressed in pink footie-pajamas, apparently about ready to go to bed, if it weren't for the screeching grown-ups in her house.

"D-- Daddy?" she said, trying to catch Uncle Henry's attention.

"Yes, sweetheart?"

"Um... I... can't find my music box..." she looked down at the ground, sadly.

Charlie found it hard to sleep without her music box. Recurring nightmares about the night she died kept her up unless there was music to soothe her. So Uncle Henry followed her into her room to try and find it.

"So... um... what part of story-time did I miss while I was making hot chocolate with Mr Emily?" Jeremy asked, leaning against a wall across from us.

"Oh nothing.... except for, like, every single crucial scene that you had in it." Toby replied.

"Aww... what a bummer." Jeremy walked over to Toby on the double-seater couch. "Could you move? I wanna sit."

Toby glanced between me and Jeremy for a moment, before sprawling his legs across the sofa with a light groan.
"Actually, I have a bit of a leg-cramp," he said, holding his right calf. "Could you, maybe, share a seat with Mike?"

Jeremy shrugged. "Fine, I guess."

Toby smirked at me when Jerry wasn't looking at him.
A few months ago, I had assessed that the way I felt and acted about and around Jerry had changed, and not just because I'd grown closer to him. I checked out all my symptoms and diagnosed myself with a crush. And a few weeks ago, I made the fatal mistake of telling Toby about it.
Now, he sometimes goes out of his way to make sure that Jerry and I are either sitting next to each other, or holding hands, or something along those lines. Basically, he's become my "wingman", though I never asked for one.

Jeremy squeezed into the space next to me on the couch, and to my surprise, put his arm around my shoulders as he sat down.
No matter how much I tried to tell myself that the scenario was casual and normal, the "simp" side of me just wouldn't shut up. My face felt warm and I could only imagine how red it was.
I mean... Jerry was just, so adorable sometimes, with his beautiful blond hair and his chip-toothed smile...
The rot under his hair was long gone, and the scar left by post-Bite of '87 surgery was now nothing more than a small, white line on his face. He had been put back together, and so had I, and Toby, and Uncle Henry, and Charlie and CC and Elizabeth and Mother and even William, and literally everyone else who was made to suffer because of Fazbear's and William's crimes.

Toby had a sort of "you can thank me later" grin on his face, as I had a mild... what do the kids call it again? A... gay attack? Doesn't matter. Basically, I was freaking out internally.

Uncle Henry came back, the sounds of a music box fading as he gently shut Charlie's door. He slightly frowned at the sight of Jeremy and I squished together on the couch, sort of but also sort of not cuddling each other, but then seemed to brush it off.

"Move, Toby."

Without a moment's hesitation, Toby lowered his legs from the couch, saying "Yes, Mr Emily!" with an air of nervousness and giving Uncle Henry space to plop down next to him with a mug of hot chocolate.

"So... where'd you stop, Mikey?"

"When Freddy Fazbear's Pizza burnt down... I'm leaving it there for today."

"I see. Whelp, there's still a lot of ground left to cover." he said, with a chuckle, followed by a sigh.

"I know," I said, tiredly.

"Well, guess we can wait till tomorrow to hear the rest of it," Jeremy said, leaning his head against my shoulder. "It is getting pretty late, and I'm kind of tired..."

I hoped no one noticed my face turning red. Now that my pale skin had reclaimed its place from my previously purple shell, blushing was way more obvious than before.
"I agree with Jerry-Bear," I said, with a light yawn. Uncle Henry chuckled.

"It's only 10:30 pm. Kinda hard to believe that you two used to work as nightguards, y'know."

"Well, you never even bother to touch a wrench when your sink is dripping and driving everyone crazy. Kinda hard to believe that you built animatronics," I countered.

"Touché. Anyways, yeah, you're right. It's about time you three started heading home. Or... do you plan to spend the night here?"

"I'm going home. Stacy's probably waiting for me," Toby said, referring to his sister.

"I think I'll stay," I said.
"I'm staying if Mike's staying!" Jeremy piped up.

Uncle Henry nodded. "Okay, then. I'll get the guest room set up for you two."

I smiled at him as he got up to leave. Jerry and I waved Toby goodbye as he left. We were about to go see him off from the doorway, but he assured us it was not necessary and made it very clear that there was absolutely no need to get up from where we were sitting.

Jerry still had his head against my shoulder, and I could sense that he was slowly nodding off to sleep. I could feel my own eyelids being tugged downwards.

A few years ago, I would say I was at my lowest point. No friends, no family, just me and the pests swarming my room. Turns out, all I needed to do was pull through, and eventually, everything fell into place. My family was back, and I'd successfully earned my little brother's forgiveness. My friends were with me now, not letting a single day pass by dully. I am the happiest I could possibly be!

My traumatic past experiences are nothing more than distant stories, waiting to be shared, and now I'll have to think over how I want to tell them by tomorrow.

After all, I'll have to start afresh the story of yet Another Five Nights.