Chapter Seven: "The Date"
Freddy Fazbear's Pizza;
"How does that sound?" Leo asked the guard.
"Perfect." Mike smirked. It was now early April, four months after that hectic night when Freddy had agreed to go out with the guard. So far, neither of the two had taken their relationship seriously. That was going to change tonight.
As always, the Pizzeria was closed for the weekend because of Easter. A local Easter egg hunt was taking place on the other side of town, efficiently decreasing the restaurant's attendance. Coincidentally, Leo's mother and sister were out of town to visit family this weekend. The opportunity was too good to pass up.
"Mike," Leo snapped his fingers together, "you still with me?"
"Yeah." The guard replied, dazed. He'd been daydreaming again, it seemed to be happening a lot lately. Thinking about what he wants to do later just makes Mike zone out, a bit.
"Good, I'll get everyone ready." The lion said as he left the office. Mike grabbed his car keys and followed Leo. It was going to be a long drive...
Leo, Bonnie, and Chica were the first three to go. Mike's car could only fit four, so Goldie, Puppet, Foxy, and Freddy would have to wait for Mike to return. Fortunately, Leo called shotgun. If he hadn't, either Bonnie or Chica would have found Mike's Freddy plush and become suspicious of the guard. The relationship was staying a secret for obvious reasons. Leo put the plush in the glove compartment so that nobody else would find it.
The first drive was uneventful, but tense. Leo and Chica glared at each other evilly every few seconds. In fact, they glared so much at each other that Bonnie actually took notice and told them both to stop. The ride was completely silent after that.
Once they were dropped off, Mike returned and picked up Foxy, Goldie, and Puppet. This drive was much livelier, as Foxy decided to serenade everyone with his shanties.
"Da da dum dum, diddly doom, dum dum dum." He sang.
"Foxy, can you shut up?! I need to drive!" Foxy scoffed at the guards request, but only hummed the song afterwards.
When they arrived at Leo's house, the lion himself was waiting outside. Bonnie and Chica were nowhere in sight, but the door was open and light was visible through the windows. Leo approached the car with a bundle of clothes.
"These are the only things I have that might fit him." He said, pushing the stack of clothes onto Mike's lap.
"Thanks." Leo smiled.
"No problem. I've got to go before they find the Vodka, apparently Mom didn't take my disappearance too well..." He sighed. "Come on guys, let's get inside. And Mike, good luck."
"What was that 'bout, laddie?" Foxy asked as they entered the kitchen.
"Nothing." Leo lied. He looked on in disgust at the shape the house was in. On the table were several empty bottles of alcohol, as well as empty packs of cigarettes. When he had looked in the fridge earlier, the lion had found even more unopened bottles.
"Ye aren't still mad 'bout all that mess wit' Chica, be ye?" Leo sighed. Ever since that day, he put a little less into his performance for the kids than usual. Stress had just been boiling up inside of him so much that he just wanted to stop everything and relax. Just set everything aside and sleep. But he had a job to do.
"I'm fine." He lied. "But would you mind helping me clean up this mess?"
"Aye." Foxy agreed. Then they began to clean up the aftermath of Justin's death.
Freddy was waiting for him in the dining area. As soon as Mike arrived, the guard gave him the clothes Leo had donated.
"Put those on." He ordered. The bear stared at him.
"Why?" He asked.
"There's been a change of plan. I'm gonna take you around the town." Freddy looked at him suspiciously before heading off into the restrooms to change.
Mike waited patiently for about ten minutes. Just as he was about to call out for the bear to see if anything was wrong, Freddy exited the restrooms. His new attire didn't fit well with his personality. Freddy was usually a gentleman, and was designed to wear a tux. What Leo had given him was a black hoodie with a tiger on it, light blue jeans, and a pair of surfer-style sunglasses.
"How do I look?" He asked.
"Like a thug," Mike stated, "but that doesn't matter. It only needs to make you look human." Freddy scowled.
"Do these feet look human to you?" He asked, shaking his right leg slightly.
"No," He admitted, "but there is no shoe in the world that could possibly fit your feet." Freddy sighed.
"Whatever, let's just get this over with..."
"What's taking Mike so long?" Bonnie asked.
"Mike called me," Leo lied in response, "said he ran out of gas. It'll take him a while to get here, he has to push his car to the nearest station." The lion had moved on from the kitchen and was now working on the living room, where Bonnie and Chica were. On the way, he'd gotten a glimpse of his old room and was glad to see it was undisturbed.
"I just hope he gets back soon." Bonnie said, crossing his arms.
"You aren't the only one..." Leo thought.
Mike lead Freddy down the stone steps onto the riverside. The river wasn't that beautiful or romantic; in fact, it had debris in it and the water was a sickly shade of green, but that didn't matter. They just needed to get upstream...
"Michael, can you please explain to me where we're going?" Freddy asked. He glared nervously at the water. One wrong step and he could end up at the bottom...
"You'll see." Freddy scowled.
"You know, that's the most annoying answer I've ever heard."
"I know."
They continued to walk down the riverside, careful not to fall in. As they started getting closer to their destination, rocks gradually rose to make walls of limestone surrounding the human and the animatronic. The plates of rock beneath their feet started to get more slippery, but they stayed far enough away from the river itself as a precaution. Freddy was starting to get bored.
"Michael, how long will it be before we get to wherever you're-" Freddy fell silent when he finally saw what they had been searching for.
The waterfall seemed to glow in the moonlight. The foam near the bottom of this beautiful phenomena swirled through the crystal clear water. Here, at the source, the river was as pure as can be. No fallen trees or random bricks to mask its beauty.
"Wow..." It was all he could say. The bear looked over at Mike, and saw that he was smiling.
"I pass this everyday on my way to work." He says, pointing to a bridge just above the waterfall. "I thought it'd be perfect for our first date. So, what do you think?"
"I'm impressed." Freddy replied. "You've definitely improved these past few months, Michael." Mike frowned.
"Are you implying that I wasn't always perfect?" He joked. Freddy chuckled. Suddenly, Mike felt his phone vibrate. The guard quickly glanced at the device to see what was going on, and he saw he had a text from Leo.
The text read: I'm sorry Mike, but you might have to cut your date short. The others are getting really irritated that you aren't here yet and I don't know what else to tell them to buy you time. Help.
Mike scowled before responding. Tell them to mind their own fucking business. He texted. He was just about to put his phone away when he got another text.
It read: Ok, but watch your language! :(
"What is it, Michael?" Freddy asked. Mike sighed before continuing.
"Leo says that the others are freaking out about us not arriving at his house. He wants us to cut this short so that they'll calm down." Freddy sighed.
"Maybe we should cut this short. I don't want any of them to tear down the place." Mike felt hurt. This was supposed to be THEIR night... "I still had fun though, thank you." He stood up and offered his paw to the guard. Mike took it.
"Okay," He said, "but first you have to do something. I impressed you, now you impress me."
Freddy rolled his eyes. Then, he gently put his paw on the back of Mike's head and brought him into a kiss. It was short and sweet, but it felt like it could last forever for Mike.
"How was that?" Freddy asked with a smirk.
"Cold to the touch." Freddy's smirk wavered.
"What did you expect? I AM made of metal." Mike chuckled.
"Come on, let's get to the house before they destroy it."
As the couple drove to Leo's house, Freddy tapped his 'fingers' against the sill of the open window. He still felt queasy whenever he got into the car, but the fresh air usually was enough to calm him down. Mike, meanwhile, was watching the road carefully.
"Hey," The guard suddenly spoke up, "do you remember when Leo didn't get me anything for the Secret Santa he organized?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Well, he did get me something." He paused for a second. "Open the glove box." Freddy did as instructed and pulled out a plush of himself. He held it for a few moments before chuckling.
"So this was going on since Christmas?" He asked.
"No, before that. It all started a couple of days before you came to us for help." Freddy frowned, regretting steering the conversation in this direction.
"I'm sorry. It must've been hard for you to try to do that for me." Mike shook his head.
"Naw, I was still in denial at that point." He said. "I actually hoped that getting you with Bonnie would help me move on."
"Do you still think it would've helped?" Freddy asked cautiously.
"Hell no." This time, Freddy didn't flinch. He had to get used to Mike's mouth if he planned on keeping this relationship going. "By Christmas, I was head over heels for you."
Freddy nodded. He looked at the doll in his paws for a few more moments before setting it on the dashboard. Mike eyed it curiously for a few seconds before returning his focus on the road.
"Do you think that it's time to tell the others?" The bear froze and his eyes widened.
"Why should we?" He asked.
"Don't you notice how the others are acting around you?" Mike asked. "Bonnie acts like he's scared of you. As if you'll try to make another move on him if you are anywhere near him."
Freddy looked down at his feet, not wanting to respond. Bonnie was a dangerous topic for him...
"Plus," Mike continued, "I think we've given it enough time to cool down. That night was four months ago, we should be in the clear."
"And if we tell them that this started on that night?" Freddy lashed out.
"We won't. We didn't even do anything until tonight, so technically this just started now."
Freddy sighed and held his muzzle in his paws. He really didn't want to deal with this right now.
"They're already suspicious about us being late. We might as well just clear the air so we don't have to go sneaking around just to hang out." Freddy sighed in defeat. Mike did have a point...
"Okay, we'll tell them when we get back." He said.
"What are you going to tell who?" A voice behind them said. Freddy whirled around while Mike slammed on the brakes. Sitting in the back seat was Goldie.
"What are you doing back there?!" Freddy yelled, embarrassed and furious at the same time.
"I got tired of waiting for you two so I decided to drop in and see what was taking so long." Goldie narrowed his eyes. "What were you two talking about?" He asked.
"We'll tell you at the house!" Mike said, blushing a deep shade of red. "Now get out of my car!"
Goldie growled. "Why don't I help you speed things up a bit?" He said. Then, he put his hand on the car door and closed his eyes in concentration. Freddy was about to ask Goldie what he was doing, when his world melted into darkness.
Leo was finally finished with cleaning up the house. With Foxy's help, they were able to clear all seven of the rooms of the empty bottles and empty cigarette packs. Leo also threw away any spoiled foods in the kitchen and organized his sister's mountain of stuffed animals. He sat down on one of the kitchen chairs to take a break when he heard a knock on the door. He instantly got up and opened the door to find Freddy, Mike, and Goldie.
"I thought that you were already here." Leo said, pointing at Goldie. He noted that Mike and Freddy looked shaken up about something.
"I went to look for them." The yellow bear answered. "They got to experience teleportation for the first time."
"It was horrifying." Mike whispered, shivering. Goldie just shrugged.
"You get used to it."
"Gather everyone into the living room." Freddy spoke up. "We have an announcement to make." Leo blinked a few times before nodding and making his way throughout the house, gathering the animatronics.
Mike and Freddy took the love seat while Bonnie, Chica, Goldie and Puppet squeezed together on the couch. Foxy stood in the corner near Bri's ECOT computer and Leo stood near the windows behind the couch. They all waited patiently for Freddy to speak. The bear cleared his throat.
"Mike and I have something we'd like to tell you all." He said. He glanced over at the guard, who nodded his head. "You were probably wondering where we were this evening." Many of the animatronics nodded. "To answer that question, we were on a date."
Many of his friends' eyes widened. They could hardly believe what he had just said. It was Leo who started the clapping. Gradually, the others overcame their initial shock and joined him.
"I never would have guessed it..." Foxy muttered, shaking his head but smiling all the same.
"Congratulations." Bonnie said, holding his paw out to Freddy. The bear shook it, but only for a second. He was over Bonnie, and he wasn't going to let any part of him say otherwise. Freddy heard Mike chuckle next to him.
"Now all we need is for Leo to get together with Foxy and we'll all have a partner." Leo narrowed his eyes.
"Do you want me to jump out of this window?" He asked. Foxy was taking the statement in a similar fashion.
"No offense laddie," He said to Leo, "but ye aren't me type."
"Ditto."
And they left it at that.
The weekend went by too fast. All of Saturday was spent hanging out with each other as if they were a normal family. Mike was by Freddy's side the entire time, the two were inseparable. Tension still hung in the air between Leo and Chica, but nothing broke out. They mainly watched game shows on the television in the living room, but Leo often went to his old room to listen to music on his computer.
All too soon, Sunday morning crept up on the group. Leo's family would be coming home soon so they needed to clear out before they were discovered. Leo knew that this was probably be the last time he saw this place, so he volunteered to go on the last trip. While he waited, he decided to write a letter.
Dear Mom,
I know that you've been worried about me. I could see it as soon as I walked in. I'm sorry to tell you that we may never see each other again. I've missed you, Bri, Dad, and everyone else so much... I only wish I could see you once again. Maybe you could see my latest work sometime. He's that new animatronic at Freddy Fazbear's, Leo the Lion. I programmed him to be able to recognize certain people and I put you and everyone else on the list. He'll put a smile on your face, I guarantee it! While I was here, I noticed many things that I wished you hadn't consumed. Even though I may be gone, you still have Bri. And she still has you. Just remember that nobody is ever alone, and I'll always be in your heart as you will be in mine.
~Justin
Just as he was finishing the letter, Leo heard a honk.
"Leo! Come on, we have to go!" It was Mike.
"Coming!" He yelled back. He snatched up the paper and pinned it to the fridge. Then, he ran to the car that would take him back to his new home.
