ShoutOuts: antoniojones123 (thx :) )

Chapter 41

Zoe walked into the pizzeria a couple days later, still tired, as she had stayed up late finishing up repairing Charlie's car. She had asked her about her job at Fazbear's Fright, but Charlie had avoided most of her questions.

So, despite Mike's explanation two days ago, Zoe was even more confused now than she had been before. There were so many blank spots in his story. Zoe had tried figuring them out herself, and she'd asked Charlie multiple times, but never got any answers. She was going to question Charlie again this morning, but she had already left for work by the time Zoe got up.

As soon as she entered the restaurant, Zoe immediately started looking around for Scott, Vincent, and Mike. The animatronics were already there; they must have started walking to work instead of getting people to drive them all the time.

Mike was in the Prize Corner, helping Mari and BB organize prizes on the counter. He hadn't even looked up when Zoe came in. Scott was sitting on the stage, trying to tune Bonnie's guitar, while Vincent was repairing a gash in Springtrap's arm. He either didn't notice or didn't care that he was bleeding in the same place.

Zoe looked back and forth between Mike and Scott. Now that she knew they were related, it was easy to spot the similarities between the two. Mike didn't have Scott's black hair or his green eyes, but they were both tall and lanky, and their speech patterns were very similar.

As for Scott and Vincent, it was extremely hard to believe they were brothers. Scott had black hair, green eyes, and was really pale. Honestly, if he had red eyes and fangs, he could have been a vampire. Vincent's hair was purple, so Zoe had no idea what his natural hair colour was, but his eyes were blue, and his skin was light brown, much darker than Scott's skin tone. Really, the only thing the two of them had in common was their height, Vincent being only slightly shorter than Scott. Oddly, the possiblility that Vincent and Scott could be brothers was one of the only things Zoe found unbelievable about Mike's story.

Zoe looked back at Mike. He was still not looking at her, seeming overly focused on the plushies and candies he was placing on the counter. She felt a pang of guilt. Even though their friendship hadn't started the way she thought it had, there was no reason they couldn't still be friends. Yeah, sure, so he'd lied to her about her entire childhood. So what? She still thought of him as a friend, and this wasn't going to change that.

She took a deep breath. "Hey, Mike!" she greeted loudly, hoping he would hear her from the entrance.

Mike glanced up from his work and saw Zoe. He stared at her for a moment, then hesitantly gave a small wave.

Zoe smiled and walked over to her position in the hall. She didn't say anything else. She didn't need to. Zoe knew that that exchange, however small, had preserved their friendship.

That's one relationship saved, Zoe thought. Maybe I should try fixing the other.

xXx

*Sometime after work*

Zoe drove up to Raina's house at about 7:45 p.m. Raina would have closed up her store a half hour earlier and would probably be home by now. It was dark out; the sun had set about a half hour ago.

Zoe walked up the driveway and rang the doorbell. A few moments later, the door opened, and Raina appeared in the doorway. She looked disheveled, and though her outfit was colourful, it wasn't quite as elaborate as it usually was. She was wearing jeans with butterflies stitched onto the pockets, a simple pink t-shirt, and blue ballet flats. Even her cat, Sirius Percival Wilmington III, seemed to be looking up at his owner in surprise.

Raina sighed. "Hi, Zoe. What are you doing here?"

Zoe opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. What was she doing? What was she supposed to say?

Zoe closed her mouth and cleared her throat. "Um, I was wondering if maybe you'd like to go out somewhere." The atmosphere was suddenly immensely awkward, and she didn't know why.

Raina shuffled her foot on the floor, staring down at it nervously. "I don't know. I thought you were going to be hanging out with Charlie."

Zoe shrugged and scratched the back of her neck. "Nah. I'd rather be with you."

Raina looked up at her, still scuffing her foot on the floor. She studied her face for a moment, then smiled hesitantly. "Okay. Just let me get ready."

Zoe smiled back. "Okay. I'll just wait outside."

Raina nodded and disappeared back inside.

xXx

*Fifteen minutes later*

Zoe and Raina sat outside at a café, Zoe sipping at a cup of coffee and Raina with hot chocolate. Raina had put on a purple belt and her hot pink jacket, so now her outfit was a bit more colourful. They hadn't spoken much during the walk there, but they had spoken some, so at least Raina was talking to her now.

Zoe blew on her coffee and took a sip. "So," she said, trying to make conversation, "how's your shop doing?"

Raina shrugged. "Pretty good. Charlie stopped by a week ago. Said she wanted to apologize."

Zoe furrowed her eyebrows. "Apologize? For what?"

"Dunno," Raina replied, taking a long drink of her hot chocolate. "Has she found a place to stay yet?"

Zoe nodded. "Yeah. She's actually moving out tomorrow."

"Really?" Raina said. "Well, good for her." She was obviously pleased by this news and trying to hide it.

Zoe decided not to comment on this. "You made any fun clothes lately?"

She had expected Raina to immediately light up at this topic, but instead she just seemed to deflate."No, not really. I haven't really had any inspiration lately."

"Well, where does your inspiration usually come from?"

Raina shrugged. "Anywhere, really. Picture books, paintings, gardens, other stores."

Zoe thought for a moment. Then she smiled and stood up. "Come on. Let's go."

Raina stood up hesitantly. "Go? Where?"

Zoe tossed some money onto the table with one hand and grabbed Raina's wrist with the other. "We're going to to go get your inspiration back." She ran off, pulling a confused Raina behind her.

xXx

Within a few minutes, they had reached Zoe's destination. Raina was even more confused now; Zoe hadn't answered any of her questions on the way here.

"Why are we at the park?" she asked, gazing up at the trees surrounding the area. They were lit only by the dim moonlight, and it was hard to see.

"Parks have flowers, flowers are colourful," Zoe said simply, pulling Raina through the metal gate. "This might help with your inspiration problem."

Raina sighed, not wanting to tell Zoe the real reason behind her lack of inspiration. "I don't know. I think I'd rather just go home."

Zoe turned around and raised an eyebrow at her. Raina looked at her for a second, then gave in and let her drag her into the park. She couldn't pass up a chance to spend time with Zoe.

"Do you have your sketchbook with you?" Zoe asked, even though she probably already knew the answer.

"Yep." Raina dug it out of her tote bag, along with a pencil. "I always do."

"Good," Zoe said. She dragged Raina along the path to the centre of the park. They passed many trees and flowers, but Raina didn't feel a single spark of inspiration. She'd seen all of this before. There was nothing new here.

Then they reached the middle of the park, and Raina gasped.

She'd been here before, multiple times, but she'd never seen it at night. The moonlight washed over the plants, bathing them in a beautiful silvery glow. The light bounced off the polished stones on the paths and illuminated the water in the fountain in the middle, making it look like liquid silver. The flowers that decorated the park had abandoned their usual bright colours and took on various shades of grey and blue.

"This is amazing," Raina whispered. Her brain was suddenly flooded with ideas. She immediately sat down on the nearest bench, flipped open her sketchbook, and began drawing.

Zoe sat down next to her. "You inspired yet?"

"Heck yes," Raina replied, not looking up from her book. It was difficult to draw in the dim light, but she did her best.

Zoe sighed. "I always like coming here at night. It's so quiet."

Raina nodded, still not looking up. "Yeah. I can see why. It's really pretty, too."

"I actually wasn't sure if you'd like it here or not," Zoe said. "I mean, you're all colourful and loud, and this place is so dim and quiet."

Raina looked up at Zoe. The moonlight had turned her brown hair almost grey, and her green eyes looked blue. There was a small grease smudge on the side of her face that she probably hadn't noticed.

Zoe turned and looked at Raina. "Hey, could I have some paper and a pencil?"

Raina was slightly confused by this request, but she ripped out a blank piece of paper. "Okay." She rummaged through her bag, but couldn't find any more pencils. Stupid. She should have thought to pack extras. "Sorry, I don't think I have any more pencils. I have pencil crayons, though," she added, digging out a black one.

Zoe took the paper and the pencil crayon. "Thanks." She picked a flat-ish rock off the ground and set the paper on it. She began drawing, occasionally glancing up at Raina.

"What are you drawing?" Raina asked curiously, leaning over to peek at her picture.

"You," Zoe answered simply.

Raina felt her face heat up. "Oh." She hesitated, then asked, "Why?"

Zoe shrugged. "Dunno." It was hard to tell in the dim light, but Raina thought she might have been blushing.

Raina stared at her for a second. Then she smiled, flipped her sketchbook to a new page, and started to draw.