Words in Chapter: 2369
Written: March 12, 2015
Current Characters: Mike, Jeremy, Chica, Bonnie, Foxy, Freddy, Foxy's Sister
Warnings: Humanized
AN: Thank you all so much for your support through favorites and follows. Special thanks to those who have reviewed; you've all helped make my day better. Thank you.

The next few days passed without incident, for the entertainers mostly kept their distance. His life settled back into his usual routine and he was fine with that. It was easier than dealing with the problems of the others. Work was a breeze, since he'd been working there for over a year, and he was used to the drama that could occur if, let's say, an order was wrong.

He racked up the tips, storing them in a tin in his living room. He checked it each night after dropping off the change and bills to see if he was making any progress at filling it up. He could hardly tell, either way.

He shoved the last of the night's tips into his pocket as he walked to the kitchen to grab his coat, exhausted from the long day. Having children's parties come to the restaurant was awful. He almost ran into Chica in the doorway.

"Oh, Mike! I was looking for you!"

"What's up?"

"Come with me," she said and proceeded to practically race down the hall to the change room. With a tired sigh, Mike followed. The young woman bounded over to the lockers and dug through hers in search of something, while Mike leaned against the wall. Bonnie, who had been sitting on one of the benches, fumbled with a little black box until he managed to hide it away in his pocket. "Aha! Here it is, Mike!"

Chica hurried over and offered an envelope to him. She was almost bouncing as he opened the flap and slid the yellow paper out.

"Did you give Freddy his?" Bonnie asked, moving over to his girlfriend's side to drape an arm over her shoulder.

"Yes! And Foxy the ones for him and his sister. Oh I hope they'll come, I miss seeing her," Chica replied. She cuddled into Bonnie with a sad look.

"You guys throwing a party?" Mike asked. They grinned. He didn't bother to read the invitation, instead he placed the slip back inside and carefully put it in his pocket. "I'll be able to go. I've got nothing coming up. I'll be there."

"Do you think you could talk to Jeremy for us?" Chica asked, surprising Mike. He stared at her, for he'd never even seen her or Bonnie talking to any of the servers besides himself. They were always too busy or spending their time amongst themselves to bother mixing with the servers. So it didn't make any sense to him that not only were they trying to win him over, they were reaching out to another.

He said as much. It made Chica give him a sad, sorry smile.

"That's exactly why I thought we'd try to fix things... We never meant to create that divide. It just sort of happened. And trust me, we all regret that it did. So we're going to see what we can do to make it better. We're all just normal employees."

"Yeah, but with better pay and adoring fans that make the rest of us look bad," Mike said. The other two winced but didn't deny it. He sighed. "I'll give him the invitation. But I'll need a ride to wherever you're having this thing."

"We'll get Freddy to drive you," Bonnie said. "He's already going to have to pick up Foxy and his sister if they decide to come."

Chica gave him a hug as he left. She seemed sad and he tried to fight the feelings of guilt that threatened to choke him. He grabbed his jacket and went home without speaking to any of the other employees.

He was mad at the entertainers for not understanding why the servers hated them, for not understanding how it felt to be lesser just because there were people deemed 'better' just for having a more interesting job. He was mad at the servers for allowing themselves to feel like they weren't as good as the entertainers, for isolating the four of them just because they felt inferior. Neither group was right, but he was just left feeling so confused with no idea who to blame or what to think. Thinking about it made his head hurt.

When he got home, he dumped the tips off in the tin and went straight to bed to sleep off a headache. The following day he gave the invitation to Jeremy and his address to Freddy a little reluctantly. He and Freddy exchanged numbers, too, so the entertainer could give him a call before driving to his house Saturday afternoon.

By the time Freddy called him at 1:56, he was dreading it. He couldn't back out though, since Freddy was on his way. He brushed out his floppy brown hair, trying to keep it from falling into his eyes. He hated events like this. He just didn't want to upset Chica who had been looking at him with such hopeful eyes.

He frowned at his reflection in the mirror, giving up on trying to make himself look better. Nothing was going to fix his too small eyes or crooked nose he'd gotten from a bike accident. And his clothes were plain enough to make him blend into the background. There was no point in trying to change that.

He stomped downstairs to wait for Freddy after grabbing the tin, pacing on the sidewalk until the black car pulled up. Freddy rolled down the window.

"You'll have to get in the back, Mike. Foxy's sister needs the front. Oh, and when we get there I'm going to need your help," he said. He waited for Mike to climb into the back seat.

"So they're coming?"

"They are. They decided not to be antisocial this time around," Freddy joked. Mike just nodded and let the conversation die since he didn't know this woman well enough to judge. He looked over when Freddy turned on the radio, flipped through the stations for a minute, then left it alone in what seemed like frustration. It was playing some kind of country song he'd never heard before. "Sorry, I'm still getting used to the car. It's not mine."

"Borrowing it?"

"I am, in fact. Mine's in the shop."

Mike looked back out the window as they pulled up to a building that looked like it probably should be torn down some time in the near future. One of the windows were boarded up and most of the rest of the upper ones were grimy. An outer light flickered by the dark door to the apartment building. Freddy honked and the door creaked open. Foxy walked over, tapping on the window until Freddy decided to roll it down.

"Took you long enough," he muttered. The driver offered a grin.

"I got lost. You know how I am."

"I think you just took your time leaving. Hello, Mike."

"Hey, Foxy."

"So Mike, he just needs your help with the doors," Freddy said, reaching over to the passenger seat and starting to pull at the latch to adjust it. Mike got out curiously and followed Foxy to the building. He opened the door and held it while Foxy went in. When the came came out a minute later, he was pushing a girl in a wheelchair.

The woman smiled at Mike, showing off a row of perfect, sharp white teeth. She had the same yellow eyes as her brother, through Mike thought they were a little softer and certainly less piercing or captivating as Foxy's vulpine ones. While she had almost the same face as her brother, sharp pointed nose, long face, she didn't look as severe as him. She had fuller cheeks and lips, less defined eyes, a slightly rounder face. She was paler too, with thinner skin. He was much darker. Her hair, cut just below her shoulder blades, was less of a red and more of a strawberry blond instead. If they both shared one trait without any variation between the two of them, it was how bone thin they were, half starved in appearance. Mike got the weird sense it was completely natural, not a look either of them were trying for.

"You must be Mike," she said. She had that same accent her brother had that Mike couldn't quite identify. Lightly Scottish or English or something. "Fox tells me about you."

"He does?" Mike asked, raising an eyebrow at the taller man. He had no idea they were even really considered friends.

"He does. You can call me Mangle."

"Marg-"

"Fox, I like the nickname," she said, cutting her brother off firmly. She glared up at him. "It's not insulting or hurtful as you think it is. It's the same as calling you Foxy. Stop controlling me."

Foxy grumbled but didn't say anything else. He just wheeled her to where Freddy was waiting in the parking lot. He put the lock into place and motioned for Mike to catch up.

"Hold the chair still," he ordered. Mike grabbed onto the handles. Foxy slid his good arm under her legs, she threw an arm over his shoulders, and his prosthetic between the chair. He lifted her out of it and Mike felt his own muscles tense in alarm.

"You sure you don't-?"

"I don't need help lifting her, I just need you to get the car door," Foxy answered. Mike scrambled to open it. He watched as Foxy gently set her in the passenger seat with some help from Freddy. She beamed at them in thanks and her brother folded up the wheelchair and tossed it into the trunk. Foxy went to handle of the door behind her seat but stopped when Mike's hand got there first.

"You're taller. You should take the other side," Mike said, motioning to the little room behind Mangle's seat which had been pulled back further to make it easier to get her into the car. Foxy smiled at him gratefully and walked around to the other side. He slid into the back and pushed the other door open for Foxy. He happened to look up at the mirror and caught Freddy smiling at him.

"All set?" their driver asked. They nodded.

They got to Bonnie's house just as Jeremy's car was pulling into the driveway. He hopped out and joined Freddy in getting the wheelchair while Foxy and Mike worked together to get Mangle out of the car. The moment they had her back in her chair, Bonnie raced out and dragged Freddy off, muttering something about being 'too nervous for life.' Mike looked to the others for an explanation and received only confused looks.

Chica was calmer when she came out to greet them, though she squealed when she saw Mangle. She went over to her first and they embraced with sweet cries of delight.

"I'm so glad you could come! I was worried you wouldn't!" Chica exclaimed, pulling back to look the woman over. She couldn't stop smiling.

"It's been too long, Chica. I could not stay away. I'd be around more often if my brother didn't worry as much as he does."

"How have you been?"

Chica took the handles and wheeled her into the house, waving a hand for the three men to come in as well. Jeremy whistled.

"So that's what women are like," he joked. Foxy laughed. He led them in and showed them to the living room. He pointed out where the beer was in case they wanted one and that they could help themselves. They could hear the voices of them women which carried from the kitchen. They were talking about dating which made the men roll their eyes.

"You mentioned Mangle being sick?" Mike asked quietly. Foxy took a while to answer, settling in an armchair before looking up at the server.

"She's doing better. She's fine. I know what she said, but... do me a favor and don't call her that around me. Her name's Margaret."

"Where'd the nickname come from?" Jeremy asked. Foxy sighed through his teeth and ran a hand over his face.

"A car accident."

The two men winced at the answer and nodded. Mike retrieved a bottle for him. They were joined shortly by the girls and about ten minutes later Freddy and a twitchy Bonnie walked up.

"Let's do a dancing-slash-singing competition!" Chica excitedly suggested. Her guests playfully groaned at the idea. Bonnie and Freddy were the first two to agree to go as Chica dug out the Wii her boyfriend had stashed beneath his TV. She got the game set up for them and the rest sat down to watch them make fools of themselves.

Freddy selected a song at random and grinned when it turned out to be an easy one. As the first notes began to play, he struck a pose and got into position while Bonnie playfully gave their audience a quizzical look as if he didn't know the song. He clumsily tried to copy the pictures on the screen. He flailed his arms and almost hit Freddy, knocking the larger man a little off balance. He started to wiggle at Chica, no longer paying attention to where his dance partner was. He yelped suddenly when he was hip checked and struggled for balance, ending up sprawled across Jeremy's lap. They burst out laughing. The game dissolved, though after some prodding from Chica they were able to get back on track.

Through peer pressure, they managed to get Foxy up and dancing with Mike who, much to his chagrin, couldn't even get one move right while Foxy was able to get perfect on every single one. Mike ended the round by tripping Foxy, and while the taller man was able to recover, he shot a nasty glare at the younger.

But the highlight of the night was when Bonnie asked Chica to dance with him. Mike and Jeremy whistled and cheered as a flushing Chica joined her boyfriend in front of the TV. Part of the way through the dance, he stopped trying. He took her hand in his and spun her.

"Hey Chica?"

"Yes?"

"I… have something to ask."

"What is it?"

"Chica will you…" he smoothly dropped down onto one knee. "Will you marry me?"