Author's Note: Hey! Week 2 update here right on time! Sorry, I had this done by Sunday but I was too busy studying and helping someone with college algebra to read over and make sure that everything is going according to plan in the story. You should see the insane timeline with the stuff I was trying to piece together (it was like a puzzle lol). So things are going to start progressively speeding up. Oh yes; and I will be posting Chapter 8 either later this evening or tomorrow (ok when I say evening I mean freakin' 6 am in tomorrow because I am on the weirdest schedule rn and I love it- college has been a blessing). I meant to put it up alongside this because 7 branches out into both chapter 8 and 9. It changes POV briefly to give insight. You'll see. :) Thankyou for anyone reading my stuff. I know this fanfic doesn't get nearly as many views/follows as my Undertale one but this one means a lot to me for a strange reason I probably shouldn't explain bc you'd all think I was crazy lol.

-cw

Chapter 7

Secrets

The music box-like tune emitted from the animatronics, dancing and swaying on stage as a crowd of kids gathered around the stage to look up at them. Like some sorta creepy robotic cult.

I watched as Bonnie's purplish-blue arm twitched irregularly every few seconds as he played the guitar, strumming like a complete idiot. Freddy's blue eyes blinked like a drowsy toddler which looked strange as he would turn left and right, opening his mouth to sing this horrid childish song. Chica, the yellow monstrosity, opened her own beak to sing along every now and then as well, and her purple eyes glinted in a, somewhat disturbingly, excessive joy towards the children.

I wish I could be like them. I laughed to myself. Smiling all day no matter what. No way to comprehend the struggles and turmoil of everyday life. No boring end-of-the-day employee meetings to listen to Scott talk for an hour about rules, regulations, and how literally no one is following them or listening to him.

Except for Addie, that is.

Which would always earn some glares from the other employees.

People hated Addie. Who could blame them?

In classes, everyone hated the teacher's pets. And Adeline was most definitely the...manager's pet. As creepy as that sounded. Not that Scott and Addie always got along. Their interactions were just as awkward and boring as any interaction between Scott and any of the day shift employees. It was just that Addie always followed the rules, so that made her a "model employee". Even Carmen and I, her only friends, snorted in laughter at this term.

Of course, there was one upside to being a boring human with emotions instead of an inanimate animatronic and that was the benefit of meetings which would turn out to be hilarious; riveting even. All a meeting required to be entertaining or, at the very least, not boring, was for either something ridiculous to happen during the work day before the meeting, or for two of the employees to be at war. As usual, the employees would always try to make it fun by doing stupid things for entertainment...making fun of the animatronics, telling scary stories (most of which I was sure Scott had told us weren't true), and chewing gum really loudly as our manager spoke. Just to get on both Scott's nerve and to get annoyed glances or winces from Addie.

But none of those things ever compared to the hell raised by Adeline and Vincent when a fight would break out. It was one of the few times Scott would ever get angry at Addie, so naturally it was golden.

The funny thing was- Vincent wasn't much of a hell raiser as crazy as that sounded, compared to the things he spent his time doing based on what i'd gathered he did; which included drugs, parties, metal concerts, and scary bars. He sort of liked to lay low: standing in the back, as always, keeping to himself, and watching everyone. That, of course, didn't make him any less creepy, though. And when provoked, he did have quite a bite.

This evening, I cleared out all the leftover kids who'd been watching Freddy and friends and brought them to their parents to close for the day. I pulled back my brunette hair and gave a sigh of relief.

I can finally calm down now. A smile built up on my face as my shoulders relaxed.

Everyone gathered for the routine weekly employee meeting after tidying everything up to be ready for the next day.

I took a seat in one of the chairs meant for the kids to sit at while Carmen leaned against the table next to me.

"Which one's your favorite?" I heard some voices to the right of us speak over at the stage. It was a guy from the kitchen who had his hair spiked, playing around with some other guys from the kitchen.

"The bear, dude." One of them with many thorn tattoos on his right arm giggled, smoking a cigarette.

Their friend snorted at him. "It's Freddy, man. How do you not know the name of the place you work?"

"Well what's your favorite?" the tattooed man sneered, making fun of him in return.

He actually thought about it for a moment. "The bunny, man. 'Cause he shreds on the guitar like me." he smirked.

I just laughed a little at how all of them were acting like the frat boys at my college. Total idiots on purpose.

"Shut the hell up man, you dunno how to play guitar." the man with spiked-hair finally returned to the conversation.

Carmen finally decided to join in on the conversation as she usually would with anyone in the restaurant. "Mine is the chicken." she posed sillily, like the animatronic usually was. She posed quite well, strangely enough.

"Shut up Carmen, you're crazy!" the guy from the kitchen returned, jokingly swatting at her from across the room. Carmen giggled from their reactions. I joined in on the laughs as well but turned to see Vincent with his arms crossed, leaning against the wall watching us weirdly. It made me quit laughing for a moment, but I soon returned to the act so I didn't seem strange. Meanwhile, Adeline was off at some other tables, cleaning them up the proper way, which no one had done.

"Okay, everyone. Time to calm down." Scott walked in, sighing as he finished something up on his clipboard.

"Not 'til you tell us which one of them is your favorite!" the tattooed guy shouted , pointing at the animatronics on stage jokingly.

The look on Scott's face was priceless. Unentertained was putting it nicely. He looked at the idiots like they were...well, idiots. I tried my hardest not to laugh because then I'd get in trouble from both parties in the room.

"No." he stated, standing there waiting for them to sit down at the tables and pay attention, but they refused. The usual buffoonery.

"Better tell us or we'll be here allll evening." the one with spiked hair laughed harder than ever.

Scott gave another sigh and then grumbled; "Good Lord…"

He gave in and pointed over to the thing I had never been stationed near. Mostly because...it was out of order. I had no idea there was an animatronic there.

"Foxy." He smirked at them.

All of them laughed. "That thing is creepy as hell. It's been out of order for ages." One of them spouted.

I glanced over at Vincent who rolled his eyes at Scott, which I found odd. Looking over to Addie, who'd been equally disregarding the guys from the kitchen's ridiculousness, I caught her let a quick cute giggle escape when Scott had answered. Unfortunately, it hadn't gone unnoticed since Scott looked over to her and gave an unimpressed expression to her which made Addie blush since she'd been caught laughing at her superior.

"I didn't know there was an animatronic there." I expressed aloud, breaking my own awkward silence.

"Oh. Y-yeah, there's an animatronic there. Uhhh...it's in the Pirate's Cove. He used to be functional but, uh...yeah…" Scott turned his attention to me and tried to cover himself for not telling me about it, but he didn't really explain anything. "Long story." He winced, sounding annoyed.

"Are we getting to the meeting or not?" Vince groaned beneath his breath, somewhat quietly.

"Yes. If these idiots get over here." Scott sighed right back.

I noticed that he seemed to have the gall to talk back to creepy-ass Vincent like that. Vincent paid no mind to it, however, so we all just moved on once the guys from the kitchen came and sat over with the rest of us.

The meeting seemed to go on forever. This was the usual, but it was killing me inside. That was- until the night shift was briefly mentioned. Scott talked about covering for it for the next few nights until he found a new person for the shift since Vincent "Couldn't show up" anymore.

Yeah.

That set off Addie. Like really set her off-

"Oh really?! Funny, didn't seem like Cynthia told me you were occupied with her all those nights you didn't show up." She hissed.

Vincent's face contorted at her. "Okay girly-girl. Remind me, since when did you start hanging out with my girlfriend?" he growled from across the room at her, still not breaking his calm stance.

"Hm still no answer. Perhaps you were at the bar?" Addie ignored his questioning and continued to prod him.

Vincent quit leaning against the wall now, and he uncrossed his arms. "You don't know a damn thing about me like you think you do, Phonesy-girl." he growled louder now. Carmen and I backed up a little bit and Scott looked like he wanted to die or something.

"Guys...please not today…" He sighed, hitting himself in the head with the clipboard he'd been reading off of.

"You can't just keep leaving the night shift to other people. With the badass you must think you are- why can't you handle the damn shift?!" Adeline ignored Scott and continued on into a scream fest.

Everyone was practically eating popcorn now, watching the outbreak occur.

Vincent looked her up and down, grinning in a way that unsettled me. "Sounds like someone must be awful educated on that night shift."

Carmen and I exchanged concerned glances. Was he threatening her for knowing something? Even more intriguing- did Addie know something?!

"Something really set her off about Scott taking the shift…" I whispered to Carmen. She nodded; "But she got angry about it before she told us she'd even look into it. Maybe she's just getting involved in shit she doesn't need to again." Carmen rushed in jumbled words under her breath to me.

"Maybe." I shrugged, but began to walk up to Addie, who was now in a returned threatening stance towards Vincent.

"Addie…" I grabbed her arm, pulling her away from the situation. "It's okay…" I told her.

"NO IT ISN'T!" She shouted loudly now. "WHEN ARE YOU GONNA START TAKING RESPONSIBILITY, VINCENT? HUH?!" She pulled herself from my grasp.

Suddenly I saw something in Vincent's face register. My heart sunk.

What the hell had triggered Addie to act this way? Thoughts rushed through my anxious mind.

His grin became contorted into a sickened anger. Now he really looked upset.

"Responsibility, huh?" He walked up to Addie and got in her face. I tried to pull her back towards me, but he continued to stay in her face as I pulled her.

He was now not only in her face, but almost in mine. That was a sight I never wanted to see again. His silvery eyes glinted threateningly, and his left eye twitched like a maniac's would.

Addie, surprisingly, attempted to remain strong. She stood still, looking up and making eye contact with the tall, slouched figure.

"You might wanna watch out what you threaten me and Cyn with unless you feel confident you and Phonsey over here think you can match us." He hissed, words sharpening with each one he spoke. They cut like knifes into my goosebump, chilled skin. He turned sharply, his stare remaining on Addie as he walked past the trashcan, spitting into it angrily and walking out the door in a grumpy stance.

What the hell kind of threat was that?

"God damn it. I'm such a failure." Adeline groaned to herself, randomly losing her strength, faltering so soon.

"What? What does he mean? What do you mean? What the hell is-?!" My questions were cut off by Addie, grabbing my arm and giving me a glance that said to leave it alone. I quickly turned my stare elsewhere as Scott walked up to her.

"What the hell are you doing?!" He yelled under his breath to her so no one else heard.

Everyone was making a racket, commenting and laughing at what they'd just seen 'crazy quiet guy' Vincent do.

I saw as Addie only responded to Scott by biting her lip and looking away from him, and making a face that made my heart sink a little lower. She seemed so defeated and angry at herself. It reminded me of her heart-to-heart talk with me. As soon as Scott saw this he gave a sigh to himself for getting angry at her in such a way. He ran his hand through his mousey brown hair and adjusted his glasses.

Who was to blame here? I wondered to myself. Whatever had just taken place, both Addie and Scott seemed to feel guilty for it. Vincent, however, clearly did not.

"Okay, guys. Calm down." Scott groaned at everyone and motioned for them to either sit or chill out. "I'm still taking the night shift for the next few days until I find a new guy. It'll all work out. Just...everyone, calm down…" Scott said to everyone, but it sounded more like the last part was for Addie.

Adeline was, no doubt, now emotionally volatile. She looked on the verge of tears as Scott said this. She turned to him for a moment, looking like she wanted to say something...do something...but she recognized she'd done enough.

She turned away for a moment and I saw her try to calm herself down, wiping the few tears gathered in her eyes for just a moment as her emotions came crashing down.

"C'mere Addie." Carmen walked over to her and hugged her for a moment.

"I'm f-fine." Addie froze during the hug.

"No you aren't." Carmen shook her head, still attempting to comfort her.

The three of us walked over to the entrance of the bathrooms while Scott continued to calm down all the employees and talk to them.

Carmen and I wrapped an arm around Addie. Carmen placed a jacket on her.

"It's okay guys. It's just me being overbearing as usual. Seriously, I just took it too far this time." Adeline swore, wiping her eyes and making sure her makeup was still intact.

Carmen almost laughed at this. "Adeline Jensen." She stated her full name. "In all the time I have known you...girl you have never once admitted you took anything too far!" she crossed her arms, smiling at her friend. "Tell us what's wrong. Why is Vincent all in your business?"

Addie took a moment and gave a sigh. "It's not Vince. It's...the damn restaurant. The damn night shift." she shook something from her mind. "It's nothing. You guys shouldn't get involved." she sighed and whispered to herself; "I shouldn't have gotten involved."

I gave her a pat on the shoulder and checked her makeup for her. "It's okay. You don't have to tell us. But, Addie, it doesn't help to just burden yourself with everything. You're not responsible for the night shift." I tried to use my best mom-voice, which I wasn't very good at since I was a bit younger than her. But either way, I thought I saw her appreciate it for just a moment when she gave me a small smile.

"Thanks but...not being responsible for it is what upsets me." She admitted. Something about this thought made her laugh at herself and shake her head once more. "It's dumb. I just...I need to...I don't know…" she sighed, giving in to her own insecurities of being out of control.

"It's Scott's problem. Scott, like you, has no problem taking control of the situation." Carmen smiled, patting her as well.

Addie winced at this, looking like she wanted to comment on this too, but she looked too scared to say anything to Carmen for some reason. She really was trying to keep all of this under lock and key.

We walked back over to the meeting, standing side-by-side to back each other up.

Once we'd made it out of the place I glanced over to find Addie talking to Scott again as I gathered my things. Almost everyone had left the building. Even from afar I could tell it was just Addie's usual ranting about Vincent, until she'd lost once more as Scott told her "No." again, and turned to look for something.

Addie stood still, looking at him for a moment. She hesitated, but then I could hear;

"What if I take the shift then?"

She froze in place. Now I couldn't break my invasive stare from what was going on.

I'd been dying to know what the night shift was all about- and here it was just within my grasp and my best friend wouldn't even tell me. I had no problem invading the conversation if it meant I could figure it out.

I suddenly saw Scott turn and make a strange, confused face at Addie.

He shook his head. "No...you can't do it." he shook his head even more.

"Why not?" I could see her lips say.

"Why do you want to?" Scott spoke louder now, clearly thinking they were alone since I was leaned over, gathering my purse and things. I decided to stay hidden to listen in.

"...After what you saw it was like?"

"Then that just means I know how to do it." Addie stomped, sounding courageous.

"Adeline...you can't. It gets worse every night of the week and it's a Friday today." I saw him shake his head, looking hysterical. He genuinely couldn't believe whatever Addie was offering.

The two awkwardly stood, staring at each other. Addie really didn't want to back down.

Why the fuck would she want to take that shift even in the first place?

"Look...Adeline, I can understand why you want Vincent to do it instead of me. Because you hate him. But why the hell would you take the shift? That just continues to help Vincent. Not yourself." Scott shook his head at her, genuinely still looking puzzled. "What are you into paranormal stuff or something?" he laughed.

Paranormal stuff? My mind rushed. None of this added up. And had Addie somehow been on a night shift?

"No…" she frowned, looking annoyed. "I'm not doing it to get rid of freaking Vincent." she crossed her arms, sighing.

"Then…?" Scott stood, waiting for the why.

"I'm doing it to help you." She grumbled. "You've taken the night shift way too many times plus day shift the next morning sometimes."

Scott continued to stand there and now he winced at her even more.

"Addie...this is like, uh...the third or something time you've tried to cover for me." he scratched his head. "The first time I was pretty sure it was just because you're an over controlling employee…"

"Hey! ...AND…?" Adeline crossed her arms, looking attacked.

"Well now you're trying to cover me from something horrifying that I know you hate…" He narrowed his stare on her and Addie broke into a blush.

"Uhhh….." Scott didn't seem to know what to say next.

"Um." Addie didn't either.

The two just stood there awkwardly, in complete silence.

"Y'know….I can't give you a raise." He said.

"I know." She puffed her cheeks, running her hand through her light brown hair.

"I know you know." he responded, narrowing his stare even more.

She looked away and waited for what was next to come. Suddenly her flushed cheeks and green eyes met mine.

Oops. I got caught.

I thought i'd get called out. Right there and then. But…

"L-look. When you're done with the night shift can you at least give me a call so I can know you're fine?" Addie's face was literally redder than I'd ever seen.

"S-sure…" he seemed even more confused now.

She wrote down her number on a piece of paper and handed it to him. "See you…" she waved, looking like she was going to pass out or something from heat exhaustion.

He waved to her and went back to the office. When the coast was clear, Addie motioned to me.

Man Addie sure knows how to keep guys on their toes! I laughed on the inside. Still, nothing could erase that I was busted and that Addie was probably about to threaten me to keep quiet.

We both quietly walked out together, but the second we were outside of the building-

"How much did you hear?" she hissed to me.

"B-basically all of it." I nodded to her, letting her know she was screwed if she thought she was going to still keep me in the dark.

"You probably want to know about the night shift then, huh…." Addie sighed, holding her head like she had a headache.

I bit my lip and smirked real wide. "Actually...I was more interested in the second half of the conversation."

Addie's eyes shot back open immediately and she turned to me like a mentally unstable person.

I got right to it.

"Do you...do you like Scott?" I tried not to laugh. This was just too good.

Adeline knew that I knew, so there was a mutual understanding which lead immediately to;

"If you say anything to Carmen, so help me God...I will freaking strangle you."

I laughed out loud now.

Carmen had spent her time, energy, and jokes - day and night, to make sure she could practically torture poor Addie with constant jokes and innuendos that she and Scott were together. How would she feel now, to know that it wasn't really an insult to her, but rather an embarrassing secret. I laughed at the idea of Carmen finding out. She had to at one point or another, I supposed. How would she feel, knowing she wasted her energy making jokes about Addie and Scott and trying to find her some guy when really she should have been using her energy to make jokes about Addie and some other guy and trying to get her to date Scott. The irony was too much.

Once I'd gathered myself, I took out my pinky and pinky swore to her that I wouldn't tell Carmen or Cynthia. Or Vincent.

"So why didn't you tell him back there just now?" I asked, smirking so wide. I thought about how she'd abandoned the poor helpless Scott with his horrible night shift and no answer as to whether Addie liked him.

Addie blushed profusely. "I-I dunno…" she scratched her head. "I was thinking that it was inevitable and that he was gonna say something because...well it was obvious why I've been doing all this stuff for him. But then I saw you watching and…."

I shrugged "I get it."

"Now...what's up with the night shift?"