It was a few days after Foxy had agreed to help me out with practicing before we opened, which was sadly tomorrow. Well, I was happy to start performing, but I was sad that we would no longer be able to hang out in the open during the day. Regardless, over the past couple of days Foxy had taught me a few things about performing I didn't even expect to be a problem; like kids trying to climb up on me. The saving grace was that the stage was very tall in comparison and would hopefully suffice to keep younger children and probably even elementary kids off, which was who I'd be entertaining anyway. Chica had given me cooking lessons, turns out I wasn't very good at it, nearly burned down the kitchen when I spilled oil on the stovetop and it caught on fire. I went for water... Figured out pretty quickly that you don't do that with oil fires. The two Bonnies would do solos on the stage every once in a while to have something for us to watch. The two Freddy's, well, I think they got off on the wrong foot. They tend to get into small, petty arguments while trying to one-up each other over little stuff. That also doesn't help with how he tries to intimidate Foxy when we're hanging out or practicing together. I think that Foxy had caught me staring at him a few times on accident. I've seen him looking as well, but the funny part is he just keeps looking like he doesn't care I saw him. Either that, or he really wasn't even looking at me at all.

"Mangle," I heard Foxy say from behind me, pulling me back to reality as he was trying to help me learn how to prevent sliding off the polished hardwood stage. "You okay?" "Yeah," I told him with a slight laugh as he walked to the other side of the stage, soon running to the other as he explained something. "You see, when I run and go to slide, I turn my feet to the side and let my fur prevent any friction, then just as I reach the end," He said as he slid across the stage, soon slamming his feet down on the bottom instead of partially on the side. "Slam your feet down on the grit that's put into the bottom of your feet, and you'll catch traction again." "What happens if I fall," I asked him as he walked over to me. "Don't worry, I'll help you get used to it," He told me as he waved me to walk over to him.

I walked up to the vulpine and he held his hands out in anticipation, giving me plenty of room to maneuver across the stage. I ran across the stage like he did, with the fox following close beside as I tried to move on the side of my foot, I lost my balance and he caught me with a chuckle as he allowed me to stand back up. "See, you don't need to worry about it," He told me as I fixed up the bowtie around the neck of my white dress shirt. "Alright," I said while we walked back to the other side and repeated it, this time I managed to slide a couple of feet before losing my balance with him once again catching me. We repeated this process for a good hour and a half before I finally managed to stop myself without falling.

"I did it," I shouted in excitement, turning around and seeing him giving a small applause. "What's going on in here," I heard someone say from the doorway as I turned over, seeing Toy Bonnie standing in it with a grin. "Foxy was teaching me some stuff," I told him, soon feeling a large hand grip around my right shoulder, causing me to look over, seeing Foxy smirking at the blue rabbit. "I think she's ready," He said to the rabbit as I turned back over to Toy Bonnie. "That's good… Well, lunch is ready whenever you two want to come eat," He told us as he walked out the room. "We've been in here for long enough anyway," I heard Foxy say as I turned towards him, seeing him looking at the clock in the corner of the room, reading 2 PM. "I guess so," I replied. We both climbed off the stage and began walking towards the main room, Foxy was in front of me and I was looking at his back, noticing several patches in his fur also on his back. How they got there, I have no idea. The patch was still on his neck, but the soft fabric had begun to fall off at the edges.

As I traced over him, I noticed that his body was significantly thinner than the others, though, it was probably due to him being based on a pirate which would probably be malnourished anyway. The cuts along his body did nothing but nail the idea of a pirate down further. His fur was dirty, I could tell that when I was wiping his neck and chest down with the cloth when he had cut his neck open, when I was done the fur was a lot lighter than the surrounding fur that didn't get washed up. Sadly, he hadn't brought up what he wanted to tell me anymore, there were moments when he would seem like he was thinking about something, but he would catch himself before he could say anything.

"Hey, hurry up," I heard Toy Freddy say with a grunt as we walked into the room. "Alright, relax, we're coming," Foxy replied while we walked up the ramp and pulled two chairs over to the round table so we could all sit. The order going around the table clockwise was me, Toy Chica, Chica, Bonnie, Toy Freddy, Toy Bonnie, Foxy, and Freddy. "So, how's everyone's day been so far," Chica asked as everyone told her "good" in various ways. "I finally fixed my guitar," Bonnie chuckled as he pulled it up from beside him, playing a small riff as he showed it off. "Nice," Toy Bonnie replied before chuckling, "Maybe you can also fix mine." "Foxy taught me how to slide across a stage without falling," I told her as she looked over at the vulpine with a smile. "So, you didn't tell her about your stage incidents did you," She asked as he shook his head side-to-side before she looked back at me. "Well, when he used to pull those stunts early on, we had to move the tables out the way because he'd fly off the stage trying to slide," She told me causing me to giggle as he sighed with a smile. "So that's what I heard falling back there," Toy Freddy asked as I looked over at him. "I never fell," I told him as he gained a confused expression. "Then what happened," He asked, continuing to stare at me in confusion. "I caught her," Foxy said objectively, narrowing his eyes at Toy Freddy, who gave him a dirty glare as the vulpine looked away.

We had eaten for around half an hour before we started to finish, nobody saying much as the two bears shot looks at each other, the light brown one sometimes shooting one at the red vulpine who didn't even notice, which confused me.

'Did something happen that nobody told me about?'

I could sort of understand why the two bears weren't too fond of each other. They were fighting over leadership, which still seemed stupid, but why was he steadily shooting glares at Foxy as well? After a little while, I got up and walked into the arcade, with Foxy trailing after me a minute or two later. Just as he came in, he stopped himself, then kept moving. "Hey, I need to use the bathroom real quick," He told me as he started walking past me through the arcade. "Alright," I said as I looked around and walked up to one of the air-hockey tables, spotting a small token slot on the side of the machine. I looked up at the prize counter remembering that they hadn't filled the machines yet, and the tokens were in some bags that were stored in some boxes behind the counter.

"Hey, Mangle, can I talk to you for a second," I heard someone say from behind me as I was just about to walk to the counter. "Uh, sure," I said, turning around seeing Toy Freddy walking up behind me. "I was wondering if maybe you wanted to hang out sometime," He said, rubbing the back of his neck as I was taken aback. "Are you asking me out," I questioned him as he looked down with a little pink around his ears. "Yeah," He replied quietly as I felt a bit sorry for him. "I mean, no offense, but I don't really like you... like that," I told him, trying to be as polite as possible as he looked up. "It's because of that fox, isn't it," He questioned me with an agitated tone as I looked at him. "What? Foxy has nothing to do with this," I told him as a realization hit me, "Is that what you've been shooting dirty glares at him for?" He seemed to stumble over his words for a brief moment as he listened to what I said, most likely trying to think of a comeback. "What makes you think I even see him like that," I questioned him with a face of annoyance. "You hang out with him all the time! You both stare at each other all the time," He retorted as I blushed slightly, knowing what he said was true, but I still held the same expression. "Well, if you knew that then why would you even ask me," I asked him with my arms folded. The bear said nothing but continued to glare at me. "What's with you and being better than everyone? Why do you need to be such a douche," I snapped back as I went to leave. "Oh, I'm a douche? I'll show you a douche!" I felt him grab my shoulder and spin me back around forcefully as I saw his hand coming at my face. I ducked quickly, expecting to be knocked to the floor, but it never landed.

"Touch the lass, and I'm guttin' ye like a fish," I heard a voice boom as I opened my eyes, seeing Foxy had grabbed him from behind, holding his hook up against the bear's neck. "And trust me, lad… I'm rough," He finished as he planted a foot in front of the bear's and shoved him, tripping Toy Freddy onto his back. He switched to his hand and rested it on my shoulder as he continued staring at the bear with cold eyes. Toy Freddy stumbled to his feet and booked it out of the arcade, mumbling darkly to himself as he left. "You alright," He asked, his accent had disappeared now as he turned over to me with a concerned expression. "Yeah…" I told him as I stared at him, now wondering even more why he never used the accent. "Thank you." He didn't respond for a few seconds as he looked at me, seemingly wanting to do or say something, but couldn't.

"Don't mention it," He finally said as he patted my shoulder and looked around. Something about him seemed empty after he looked away, as if whatever he wanted just then was exactly what he'd been wanting to do, but he couldn't do it. "Want to go find something else to do, somewhere to avoid him," He asked me as I caught myself staring at him again. "Yeah, not in the mood to do anything in here anymore, anyways," I replied, looking away from him so he didn't see me. "Alright," He said as we started walking to the main room, side-by-side as we walked past the arcade machines. "Thanks again for that... I didn't expect him to try and punch me," I told him as he sighed and looked over to me. "Don't mention it, really. Seeing that made me think of how I treated you several days ago," he told me with a soft expression as we walked out of the arcade and went into the hallway.

As we walked down the hall, not really knowing where we were going, we heard a couple of voices shouting at each other from the main room. Foxy stopped, twitching his ears as he listened in. "What do you mean; 'control my fox," I heard someone shout from the main room, the others all stopping what they were doing as me and Foxy stopped and peered in through the door. "I mean, control your fox," I saw Toy Freddy shout at the older Freddy as they both were face-to-face. "First off, I don't control him. He's his own damn self," Freddy shouted back at him as they were right up to each other. "Well, he attacked me," Toy Freddy shouted back as I heard Foxy's breath deepen. His eyes were flaring with anger he was pushing down just enough that he wouldn't attack the light brown bear again. I rested my hand on his shoulder hearing him calm down as I squeezed it lightly.

"If he had to attack you, I'm willing to bet he had a good reason," Freddy shouted back as both the Bonnies quietly slid off the stage and began approaching them, probably to try and split them up. "I know Foxy, he doesn't simply attack out of nowhere," Bonnie said as he climbed up the ramp. "Then explain what happened when he attacked Mangle- Oh wait, you can't," Toy Freddy shouted at the purple rabbit. "You don't know what he's been through-" Freddy told him before getting cut off. "I don't care what he's been through, he's a danger to everyone in this entire building," the shorter one replied. I watched trepidatiously as the two started pushing each other back, taunting each other into taking the first swing before the rabbits pulled them apart.

Toy Freddy looked down at us looking in through the doorway, "Why don't you come over here and rip me apart already, huh? You seem so dead-set on it, but you know you'll just get us shut down before we even open." Foxy's visage changed in an instant, going from anger to something completely unreadable. He started walking up towards the bar area as I said his name in a vain attempt to try and get his attention. "Yeah, Mangle. Why don't you go and control your stupid boyfriend," Toy Freddy taunted me as I glared up at him. Now I wanted to rip him apart, too. "At least he isn't trying to use me," I replied coldly as I turned around and headed for the doorway, hearing the bear trying to call me back over so he could insult me. I walked into the bar seeing Foxy sitting in a booth, resting his head in one of his palms. I walked over quietly, setting my hand on his left shoulder this time as I sat down beside him.

"It's alright," I told him as he sighed, small droplets trying to claw their way out of the corners of his eyes while he turned his head towards me. "It really isn't…" He replied, visibly wanting to say something as he looked at me, something that was hurting him deep down. "Mangle, when he said something about me shutting this place down… That's exactly what I did at the old place…" He began as I listened to him. "I don't want him to make your days of performing a living hell either. That's something he could do," He added as he looked down at the table. "And he brought the others into this, something that should've just been settled between the two of us," He finished with a sigh as I continued looking at him. "We'll figure out something," I told him with a slight smile as he looked at me. "I hope so," He replied as he looked away. I felt an urge inside of me wanting to climb up beside him and just hug him, but something was holding me back, something made me think it would be too weird, or he'd think it came too soon.

I looked at the vulpine who's face was towards the ceiling now, his head laid back with his eyes closed. I could tell he was uneasy but I couldn't tell why… Was it because of me? Was there something else he wanted to say? I kept thinking for a little while as I let my mind process everything that had just happened. One thing I noticed was that I felt safe with him. After what he did with Toy Freddy, I knew he wouldn't willingly hurt me. It was... calming being beside him. But, if I had simply said yes to Toy Freddy this wouldn't have happened, Foxy wouldn't be so uneasy over whatever was running through his mind, and I wouldn't have to be separated from the rest of my friends down there because I know that Toy Freddy is probably telling them some bullshit story of how or why Foxy jumped him. I looked at him again, noticing that we were about half a foot apart in the booth, he was scrunched up against the wall as well.

Anxiety kicked in as I noticed it… Did he not want to be near me? That couldn't be the case, we were just hanging out and having fun, right? As I began questioning everything I noticed he had lowered his head and was looking at me. "Are you alright," He asked, setting his left hand on my right shoulder once again. The same one he used to squeeze it that night. "Yeah, why," I replied, the questions still running through my head as he seemingly regained his composure. "Listen, since we've basically just started a war in the pizzeria, I want to say that... I'm glad you're here with me. If not, I'd probably not be alive right now," He told me with a sigh as I felt his hand trail down my back, soon being pulled away as it dipped low. "T-thanks," I managed to let out. What did he mean by that? I couldn't think of anyone other than Toy Freddy right now that would do anything to him.

Just then, it all clicked.

'Unless he'd do it himself.'

It slowly came together as to why he'd snapped that time several days ago, why he didn't want to tell me anything about him or his old location, why he'd been digging into himself with his own two hands, or why he seemed so undernourished.

But he wouldn't do that.

...would he?

Foxy's gaze stopped my flaming train of thought, soon digging around in his pocket as he pulled out a folded up piece of paper. "What's that," I asked him as he sighed looking at it for a few seconds. "It's the picture," He told me, soon unfolding it to show a young girl sitting in his lap, the pirate ship in the background. "Wow," I said, awestruck as I looked at it. "Who was she?" Hot, angry tears slowly made their way into his eyes as he looked at it, confusing me and also filling me with concern as I rested my hand on his shoulder again. "Her name... her name was Samantha," He told me, barely able to spit it out at the end as he stared at it. "I… I accidentally bit her-" He tried to say before stopping and facing the picture down.

He was angry... angry at himself; angry at the hand that fate had dealt him. Angry because of something he knew he didn't mean to do.

I stared at him as he broke, eyes shut tight and teeth grit in frustration as he tried his hardest to keep himself together.

"I... I killed her!"

Emotions filled me quickly as I tried to comprehend what he had just said. He... killed her? Was that what he was talking about when he said 'he didn't think I'd see him the same?' "I'm... sorry to hear that," I told him, unable to think of anything better to tell him as I rested my head against his shoulder, wrapping my arms tightly around him as he sobbed quietly to himself. He held on to me tightly, as if he thought I'd disappear.

'He's been hating himself for so long...'

I thought for a minute, this must have been what hurting him so badly for all that time. Every time I had asked him about the other location… My stomach churned from guilt, my chest painful as well. If I had known I wouldn't have asked him, but at the same time, I should've noticed. I looked up at him again, seeing him staring at the back of the picture, seemingly unable to say anything at all. "I'm sorry for asking about the stories all those times," I told him as he looked over at me, still fighting whatever was cursing his mind. "It's alright. I needed to let that out," He said softly.

'That's explains everything.'

The feeling from earlier replaced the churning in my stomach; it was the empty, wanting feeling as I stared at him. I wanted to crawl up to his face and kiss him, and I could feel himself holding himself back, but neither of us moved. I could feel his breathing was as sharp as a knife, his mechanical 'heart' racing as well. After a few minutes of the torture, I finally sighed and rested my cheek against his arm again, knowing that neither of us were ready to do anything. It was disappointing, but I understood.

At least, I think I did.

PSA from the beta-reader: If I catch any of you putting water on a grease fire, I will personally hunt you down and hit you with an OSHA-Certified Class B fire extinguisher.