Fates Intertwined

Chapter 10: Old Friends

"Why...why do you have her?"

Charlie was studying Sam as he gently carried Ella into his house, standing her upright as he closed the door. It was really something to see her again as she, Charlie, hadn't been to her father's house in years and seeing her old friend was strangely wrong. She had left that life behind after that day but here it was just staring blankly at the wall in front of it. Had he lost it or something? When she thought about it, it seemed possible given all the weird things she noticed about him and this was probably the edge of it all and he was falling off it.

"Because. Someone wanted me to find her. She was in...in the office with Theodore...It was deliberate. However, I don't have the why of it. I have her, just...not sure where she falls into place in this..."

The man smiled nervously. He truly didn't know what Ella had to do with his...strange mission to prove William's guilt. From what she had overheard, the man lost a lot to Fredbear's as did she but the difference between the two was that she moved on. He didn't. It was understandable of course as she remembered very little and didn't have the same attachments as the man but it was still rather odd that he was so adamant about it now, four years after the fact. Was he finally moving on and this was how his mind was handling it? It seemed possible as he and Momo got the paperwork from the diner yesterday.

"You mean that someone went to my dad's house. Set everything up for you to find and left without a word? That seems kind of strange but again, it is you...and you're very clearly into Momo who's about as short as I am."

"For the first question, yeah. As odd as it sounds. As for the second thing, are you accusing me of something because if you are, it's not being taken lightly."

"No. Not at all. Just...even YOU can see how weird it is right? Seriously, a six-foot tall guy is in love with a woman that's not even five feet tall, that's strange no?"

Sam blushed, quietly grabbed Ella and headed upstairs without another word. She really got under his skin but he also didn't seem to have a comeback. It made her feel a little bad for the man but HE was the one that was into Momo. to be fair, she was into him too. It was way too obvious that the two were into each other. Of course, neither was making a move for the other so it was a stalemate game at the moment. Maybe she could push one of them? She'd need to think about it later, for now, there was a topic of conversation to be discussed with Mike.

"Hey, Mike?"

"Yeah Charlie?"

Mike was in his room, simply writing in a journal. He never actually shared what he was working on but it seemed important to him as he was usually writing in it. At this point, he may have been writing a book for all she knew. Charlie had stopped asking about it pretty soon after she started. Whatever it was, he wanted it to be kept private.

"So...Sam's got Ella for whatever reason. What bothers me is the how of it. He said that she was just sitting in my dad's old office with Theodore which is impossible unless someone moved them so I was curious what you think happened."

"I don't see why he'd lie about that. He's a pretty reasonable person so why would he come up with something like that? Though. If he was being serious about that...who would have moved them?"

The young man finally looked up from his working and faced his friend. His own mind was spinning now if Sam wasn't lying. Who would've moved them and why? What was there to gain from that?

"I don't know but it had to have been someone who knew what Sam was doing. Otherwise, why would you just randomly move them?"

"But then, who would have moved them? It wasn't me or you, and Momo doesn't know where the house is...and I'm pretty sure she's slightly taller than Ella so..."

Mike narrowed his eyes. Charlie REALLY didn't seem to like the woman for whatever reason and it was getting to be both annoying and rather insulting. Momo was never around to defend herself when needed and it was pointless. Momo was a good woman, sure she was short and her name wasn't common but she was still a nice person that Sam was lucky to meet. If anything she was pretty much just a shorter version of Caroline from what the young man had gotten out of his father figure.

"You need to stop that. It's getting annoying and it's pointless. Momo's a good, kind-hearted person so I fail to understand why you keep underhandedly insulting her. I'm sick of it and any time you do, she's not around to defend herself which I can't understand why you do it so if you can give me a solid reason as to why I'll drop it but otherwise. Stop or we're no longer going to be friends."

This was a turn for Mike, normally he was rather level headed but this anger was scary to her. It felt...like his father was in the room. She took a step back from him, the look in his eyes was something she only saw once and she never wanted to see it again.

Without another word, she turned and ran. That wasn't Mike. That was a monster wearing Mike's face and she never wanted to see it again. She would have gone further but she ended up running into someone.

"OH! Charlie, what's wrong?"

It was Momo, she must have just come in as the door leading outside was still open. Her eyes were studying Charlie but they weren't the eyes of a monster. They were the eyes of a woman who wanted to make things right. It was...comforting. Something she never got from her aunt.

The young girl started sobbing, she didn't hate Momo but actually facing her? It made her realize just how rude her comments were. For whatever reason Charlie's mind picked Momo as a means of venting the problems she had with herself. What had happened to her? Well, Charlie knew the answer but it was something she didn't want to face...at least not on her own.

"Oh, it's alright dear...it's alright..."

The short woman had started rubbing the young girls back as she cried. Something within Momo felt compelled to if only because she didn't like to see anyone sad which helped her at Freddy's so why would this be different?

"Charlie? I'm sorry...I just...You can understand right?"

Mike finally left his room to see Momo was holding Charlie tightly as she cried. The sight made him feel bad for scaring her but he had every right to be mad. The woman was gently running her hand up and down his friend's back, unaware of his presence.

"Momo?"

"Huh? Oh, hey Mike..."

She finally looked up, her soft eyes studying him. All he could find in them was compassion along with a mix of confusion and concern. The woman clearly didn't have the full picture as to what happened to lead to this situation but she was trying to figure it out.

"Hey, Momo..."

"What happened?"

Mike shifted nervously. What could he say? Was there anything to say anyway? Sure he could say what Charlie was saying but...was that really a good idea? No. It was better off left unstated right now. Not while she was so distressed.

"It's complicated..."

"Oh...alright...I'm gonna go check on Sam if you two need me."

At last, Momo slowly detached herself from Charlie and headed upstairs, her hair bouncing slightly as she took each step. Mike found it kind of funny to see but his focus quickly turned back to his friend. He just wanted to know why she kept insulting the woman but his anger got the better of him.

"Charlie...I'm sorry...I just...I really don't like when you insult Momo..."

"Mike...I'm sorry. I...I was just projecting my issues on Momo..."

The young man was confused and surprised by this. Projecting her issues? Did that...

Oh.

Charlie hated herself and was just using Momo, who was innocent, as a means of getting the thoughts out of her head. Not the best means of dealing with them, Mike had his own personal issues with himself but that's where the journal came in. It wasn't obvious to anyone reading it but he had written pages upon pages of a story which was him dealing with his inner demons, however, it never directly stated anything but it still let him handle the thoughts in a way that wouldn't hurt anyone.

"Hey...I've um...I wanted to tell you something for a while now..."

"What's that Mike?"

"I love you, Charlie."