"(Y-Y/N)?"

You let out a tired "hmm?" before snapping your head up in realization. You felt your blood run cold as you stared at the large brown haired man that you saw so often around your father. Cold sweat began to bead down the back of your neck as he took a step closer.

"(Y-)…" he trailed off, staring at you with lightly knitted brows before letting out a quite sigh. "Don't look so worried," he said quietly, "I'm not going to tell you father a thing."

You instantly slouched in relief, letting out a shaking breath as you leaned on the counter. You were happily able to calm down now that you didn't have your father to worry about. Bet even with him out of the picture, you still weren't exactly put at ease by the large man in front of you.

He took step closer, his eyes locked on yours. "But…I'm worried about you," he said quietly, obviously not wanting to make any kind of scene, "when do you finish here?"

It took you a moment to register what he said. "U-Uhh…ten thirty," you muttered, eyes drifting to the side, unable to hold eye contact with this man any longer, "I…work until we close."

He nodded, putting his hand to his chin and taking a moment to think about something. "I'll be behind the store, okay? We just need to talk."

"U-umm…okay." You didn't really want to talk to him, but you couldn't really see a reason not to. Plus, he already said he wasn't going to tell your father, and, from what you knew about him, he wasn't one to lie. You let out a shaky sigh as you slowly lifted yourself off of the counter.

He gave you a sympathetic look and placed a comforting hand on your shoulder before ordering, paying, and leaving, saving everything he had to say until later that night.

You gripped the strap of your bag tightly with one hand as you waved goodbye to Malinda and her husband, who stood in the open doorway of the bakery, with the other.

"And don't forget to get some sleep," Malinda warned with a mild tone of worry. You nodded slightly in response.

Her husband walked back in, but she continued to hover in the doorway, a worried look coming over her face. "I'm serious (Y/N). You looked just dreadful today."

You looked back and gave her a small, reassuring, smile. "I will," you lied, nodding at her once again before turning around.

Your reassurance eased Malinda's worry, shown clearly by the smile that spread across her face. "Okay then, take care!" she called, closing the door shortly after as she went back in to finish closing.

Your fake smile slowly melted away, revealing how truly fearful you were about the night still too come. He had said that he wouldn't say a word to your father, but yet you still couldn't get over that lingering sense of dread. And for the stability of your mental state, you weren't even going to think about the pizzeria yet.

You let out a groan at even the passing thought of the pizzeria. With the way last night went, you had a nasty feeling that it wasn't going to be a very fun night.

You glanced around for Freddy. Just as he said he would be, he was behind the building, standing next to his car.

You took a deep breath and started walking towards him, doing your best not to let how nervous you were show on your face. "F-…Freddy?"

He turned at the sound of his name. "Ah, (Y/N)" he said as he straightened himself, "I expected you earlier."

You rubbed the back of your neck awkwardly and looked at your feet. "S-sorry," you muttered, "Malinda needed some extra help locking up today."

Freddy let out a quiet "hmm" as he nodded. "I see," he said quietly as he ran his eyes over your form. "You look terrible," he said bluntly.

Your eyebrow twitched. "Wow, thanks," you said sarcastically, staring at the large man irritably, "really good to know."

He let out a quite chuckle as he ruffled your hair, before returning to being serious. "You know what I meant," he said, "You've gotten thinner, and I'd say you haven't had a proper shower in quite some time."

You fidgeted awkwardly, shifting in attempt to hide as much of you as you could under his unwavering gaze. "S-so what?" you stuttered as you did your best to glare at him, "I'm still…just fine."

"No you aren't," he said, his bluntness rearing its head once again.

You felt yourself tense at his words. "And what would you know about that?" You asked angrily.

"I'm just trying to help you, there's no reason for you to get upset like that," he said.

You huffed in irritation. "I have to get home," you said, turning away from him and beginning to walk away.

He grabbed your shoulder firmly, stopping you from advancing. "If you really need to get home that badly, I'll take you," He said, slowly turning you back around, "all you have to do is tell me where you live."

"I…I do-…that's not really your concern, is it?" you said, jerking yourself away from the large man and taking a step back. "I'll just walk, like I always do."

Your heart rate soared when he grabbed your wrist. "W-what the hell? Let go of me!" you yelled, trying to pull away from the large man.

Freddy stared at you as you attempted to pull yourself away from him. "You don't have a place to stay, do you?"

You bit your lip gently, eyes drifting away from him. "W-why do you even care?" you asked nervously, still pulling at your arm.

Freddy sighed, beginning to drag you towards his car. "You're not ready to be alone (Y/N)," he said as he opened the door to the backseat, "For your own good…I'm taking you back to your father."

Fear gripped you as those words left his mouth. He was going to take you back to…that. "N-no," you muttered fearfully as Freddy attempted to gently put you in the back-seat.

"NO! STOP IT! LET GO OF ME!" You screamed, trying to escape his grip desperately. "DON'T TAKE ME BACK THERE! PLEASE!" Your eyes began to water as he made no move to loosen his grip.

"PLEASE!" you begged, struggling to free yourself from his grip, "I'LL DO ANYTHING! JUST DON'T TAKE ME BACK THERE!"

He grabbed your other arm, doing his best not to hurt you as you kicked and squirmed for freedom. "(Y/N)," he started firmly, holding you in place easily, "If you keep flailing like that you're going to hurt yourself!"

You barely even heard what he said over the deafening thumping of your heart that had jumped to your throat. "SOMEONE HELP ME!" You screamed hysterically, nowhere near strong enough to fight the large man who forced you into the back-seat.

The back door was flung open by a frantic looking Malinda. "J-Joseph, come quick!" she yelled into the building.

Freddy looked up in surprise, not expecting the two new arrivals.

"HELP! GET HIM OFF OF ME!" you yelled fearfully, although relieved on more levels than you could count by the arrival of Malinda's husband.

"What's going on here?" He asked angrily, walking up to the large brown haired man who held you.

Before Freddy could even open his mouth you began to wail, "H-HELP! HE'S A PSYCHOPATH!"

Freddy barely had a second to react as Joseph's fist came flying towards his face. He let you go, bringing his arms up to block the punch.

You scrambled away from the fighting men, shaking and gasping fearfully as you willed your vision to stay clear, the edges having started dimming.

Malinda ran over to you, falling to her knees to pull you into a tight, comforting, embrace, stroking your hair gently and whispering calming nothing into your ear.

You clung to her like a life line, burying your face in her shoulder as you spewed fearful, uncomprehendible, nonsense.

Freddy growled and backed away from Malinda's husband, whipping his chin with the back of his hand as a drop of blood slowly rolled down from his busted lip.

Joseph stood there, panting, yet still ready to fight. He was built like a rock, yet was older and beginning to grey, it was amazing that he was still able to take on Freddy at his age. "Get out of here, and don't come back," he growled warningly.

Freddy opened his mouth to say something, taking a step forward but with one warning look from Joseph quickly decided it would be better to simply leave. He, unhappily, backed away, slowly getting into his car before driving away.

Joseph watched the car until it was no longer n sight, then turned to you and Malinda. "Are you okay?" he asked as he walked over to you and Malinda, limping slightly from the fight.

You nodded silently, face still buried in Malinda's shirt.

He let out a relived sigh, placing his hand on your head. "I'm glad," he said as he ruffled your hair with the smallest of smiles.

You peaked up from Malinda's shoulder, staring at the small smile that adorned his face. It was an odd sight, he was usually an all-business kind of man. The sight brought the same smile to your face.

Malinda kissed your forehead gently as you turned back to shove your face into again, like a small and frightened child. "How about you come over for dinner?" she suggested, rubbing your back gently, "Something to eat could really do you some good, don't you think Joseph?"

Joseph nodded, staring at you expectantly. "Just as long as you take a shower first," he joked.

Malinda held in a laugh and nudged his leg with her elbow. "Joseph," she said amusedly, "I don't think now's really the time for tha-"

She was cut off by a quite laugh from you. "I-…I'd like that," you said quietly.

Malinda broke out into a large smile, "Well that settles that then!"

A/N: Totally haven't been done with this for a day and a half. Nope. Not at all.