Second FNAF fic ever. Loved the movie but screw the critics who hated it. :3 Oh, hell, you know what they say: what the critics hate, we love. Numbers don't lie.
Anyhoo, got me a headache and aching teeth, and not just that, but in the mood for venting emotions and giving a good story. And this comes after reading the latest chapter of "Smiling Child - Book 2: My Friend Mangle" by TheLoneclaw on AO3. It's a masterpiece of a story and I recommend it a thousandfold. It's also the first in a oneshot series titled "The Evan Afton Chronicles".
This fic is not just inspired by "My Friend Mangle", but a way for me to vent emotions and feel good. In real life, I have a habit of talking aloud in whispers to myself, but I live with a relative who has SUPER hearing, so with the new chapter of "My Friend Mangle", I set about making myself feel better while also giving all of you what I hope is a good short story with a lot going on.
Age notes for the kids: Evan turned eleven in 1983, making Michael fifteen or sixteen, my OC eleven and almost twelve, Charlie the same age as Evan, I think. Unlike "I Will Find You" (my other AU still at work), Elizabeth is dead first, as many fans believe - and then flashforward to the present.
The OC is all I own. Scott Cawthon - you know the rest. ;D
Evan Afton hated humanity in general for so many reasons.
First, his brother.
Second, bullies at school.
Lastly, his father.
Yeah, the world was never good to him, so he started looking after himself since the almost Bite of '83. Just before Lizzie died. Even when he would stop crying in fear, only doing it in private so he could get away and be with Charlie and Uncle Henry. They were the few he trusted the most. The rest of humanity and the bullies at school? The worst.
Elizabeth was good to him, though it seemed Father adored her the most out of him and Michael. Father said she should have listened when he told her NOT to go anywhere near Circus Baby. Evan had nightmares after he saw what happened to her too late and couldn't be near those robots as a result.
He was stuck with Mike the bully and their distant father who had started to be around them more and more since the incident, but something in Evan changed from then on. He would never trust his brother again after the near-death experience. Fredbear's jaws would have cracked open his skull if William had not come to his rescue.
"Dad, it was just a joke! I didn't mean to hurt him!"
"Of course, excuses as always, Michael! You better be lucky I don't turn you over to the police for attempted manslaughter. I can't believe you. I let you have your way long enough. This ends today: you're going to start seeing a counselor for your behavior, young man."
Evan overheard enough and decided that was enough. Whatever happened between Father and Michael was between them. He had Charlie and that mattered most.
~o~
1989
He was gonna go back to school, and he was afraid. But Charlie there and with some friends of hers would make him happy.
This was their final year, and it was senior time.
His alarm clock rang him awake, and he was out of bed in a flash. Tomorrow was the day he and Charlie would ride the bus together if the damned driver didn't make them late stopping for food beforehand, that was. Evan had decided they would hit the movies, an ice cream date after, and then the pizzeria just for the games alone. Where they both had grown up. They wouldn't even be able to go there anymore once they got into college. He was off to the big guns while she would be content to attend community college.
He was just getting on his Batman t-shirt when there was a knock on the door along with a familiar voice he didn't want to hear. At least he'd wind up in a dorm and away from here if he got lucky with a scholarship of his own. "You up, Ev?"
"Yeah, I'm up," Evan grumbled, closing the front of his jeans, irritated his brother had the nerve to check up on him as if he were a younger kid again. He'd just turned eighteen, for God's sake.
"Good," Michael said, "because Father has something to tell us both before we go do our thing."
What could William have to say to them both at this time of morning and at breakfast? Knowing him, it was important.
Evan avoided Michael as he left his bedroom, not bothering to make eye contact and just mumbling morning. The elder just sighed and followed him. Evan made his way downstairs, deciding to brush his teeth after breakfast was over. Michael the asshole - actually, he'd changed a bit over the years and was almost done with college, had taken up maintenance and accepted commissions over town as well as traveling to Salt Lake City sometimes - just didn't know when to stop. He didn't pull pranks anymore, but his presence was more than enough. Nothing would ever make up for what he almost did years ago on Evan's birthday that he hated with his family since then, only bearing it because of Uncle Henry and Charlie.
The smell of steak filled his nostrils, making his stomach growl. Father was cooking it for breakfast because he was in a great mood, and whatever he wanted to talk to them about had to be good.
"There are my boys!" William Afton said cheerily after setting the table with everyone's plates - the boneless ribeye with over-easy eggs, fried potato pieces, and orange juice for the boys while he had his coffee. "Last day of summer for one of us." He looked in Evan's direction. "Going right over to the Emilys after this, yes?"
"Yup, we got a movie planned," Evan answered, plopping down with a smile and excited for this, though his stomach still flopped like butterfly wings.
"And you, Michael? What about that girl you started seeing?"
"Kaleia? Yeah, she's good. Glad she turned eighteen earlier this year before I even met her. Makes it better." Michael blushed and lowered his face. "That didn't sound right, Dad."
William chuckled heartily. "No offense if you didn't mean it THAT way, my boy. Yourself, Evan? Any ladies for you after all this time?" Evan had to resist a groan. Here they went again. Girls didn't even look at him except because he was the son of William Afton and a new genius in the making. Charlie was the only one to give him the time of day, but she was his best friend!
"No, nobody."
This made Michael frown, and here it would go again. Luckily, William caught this right away. "Michael, don't."
"Why not? He's eighteen years old and should be exploring relationships, but no, Dad: he spends all his time tinkering with gadgets and experiments like you and Uncle Henry, with you guys, and just with Charlie who he said was just a friend. He doesn't even have a lot of friends, either, except just her and that little group of hers."
It was times like this that Evan truly wanted to punch him as he always wanted to do. Now he lost his appetite and hated it because William worked hard on this. He started spending more time with his sons since the almost bite, extremely going to lengths to make sure Michael cleaned up his act as he should have done a long time ago, everything to make up for being more businessman than father.
"And whatever is the matter with that, Michael?"
"Nothing, just..." And just like that, the elder grumbled at a loss for words.
William sighed, standing up as if he'd had enough of this. "Alright, boys. This is why I really called you both here. I'm only gonna say this once, and you're both going to listen to me.
"Michael, you've done me proud becoming a far more decent man than you were as a boy, but you continue to insist on your brother having more friends or a lifestyle akin to your own." This spoke of Evan keeping mostly to Charlie and sometimes her other friends she hung with, but he preferred her and planning his future above everything else, which Michael personally thought unhealthy in a lot of sense, but the asshole didn't know when to butt out. 'Sides, Evan knew to have fun when he needed to; not like he was overworking himself on anything, and his intelligence came naturally from his Afton genes. "Leave him be, and if he wants to be around you and those friends of yours, it's his choice," William finished firmly, then turned his attention to his youngest boy.
"And Evan, will you ever forgive your brother?"
The name-calling...the jumpscares...taunting...the jaws of Fredbear...
"...easier said than done, Father," was all Evan could say, glaring at Michael who slid back in his chair. "You're just being nice to me to make yourself feel better and avoid your guilt, not because you want to be my brother."
"Evan, that's not true!" Michael protested.
He had enough. He didn't want his last day of summer spoiled by this bullshit, but at least William wanted it out in the open so he understood better. He was glad this was off his chest and Michael could stick permanently with those other jerk friends of his he would always have. Evan was perfectly fine the way it was on his end; he didn't need Michael anymore, not since his birthday when he would have died.
~o~
Friday the 13th: Jason Takes Manhattan was still in theaters, so they would finally get their chance. Not long ago, they'd seen the new Batman film and he'd sat close enough to Charlie only to feel a change, or had he imagined it?
If life was simpler, he'd have just her and Uncle Henry, and of course her few friends aside from him. He saw them only on occasion, so they were just acquaintances on his end.
"Dad's at the restaurant already," Charlie told him as soon as she left the house, locking the door behind her. She grinned at the sight of him just as he felt his eyes bulge from his sockets at the sight of her. She looked a little more...girlier than before. She preferred a tomboyish appearance, so this took him aback a little. "Yeah, thank Jess for this," she said, giving an awkward twirl. The blouse and lace skirt were a warm sandy color like the beach or Utah desert. Her hair was tied behind her neck. "He also said to pass along a message he wished he could tell you himself, but he lost patience instead of waiting for the next family get-together."
"Yeah?"
"He said you can join him in the backroom after school when the year starts."
Evan lit up inside like the kid he used to be. He was eighteen, so he was legally an adult now, but he was also still in high school he couldn't wait to get out of. He was lined up for a scholarship, so he was determined to get that no matter what. Then he'd get away from that house he'd never felt safe in.
But he wanted so much to do something about what his heart had for the girl in front of him.
"Oh, didn't think I'd see you here."
The girl's voice came from behind him and Charlie. To his surprise and disbelief, there was someone he didn't expect to see, though it wasn't her fault except for - "Kaleia."
Kaleia Lyons was the daughter of two of Hurricane's best investigative journalists who were away from home than they were with their only child, leaving her primarily in the custody of her grandparents. That was one thing they shared in common, a parent busy more than they were home. Evan didn't hate her at all, except for the fact she was linked to one of his least favorite people in the world. "Yeah, and hi, Charlie."
Charlie smiled back and waved. "Hi. What movie you gonna see, and who you with?"
"Oh, I'm with my grandparents." The Hawaiian descendant then pointed towards the ticket stand where the old couple was, a nice pair who his own grandparents from William's side should have been. "And tomorrow night, I got a date with your brother." Evan must have cringed because she frowned. "Seriously?"
She was calling him out on it, but yeah, she started it. "Seriously. He's the last person I wanted to hear."
Kaleia huffed. "You know what? I don't wanna waste my time. Just gonna have fun and then start over another time. But you know something, Evan Afton? You keep that attitude up, you're gonna end up just like your sperm donor." She turned and stalked off then and there, leaving him flabbergasted and alone with Charlie who glanced his way.
"Evan, really?"
"What? I just wanted to have a good day with you, and then I get reminded of -"
Charlie interrupted him. She always had his back, but somehow, now was different. "Maybe it didn't occur to you she's right? I didn't even know Mike anymore back when we were kids, but I've seen that he's a better person, yet you keep pushing him away. I know what he almost did to you - one of his jerk friends held me back - but you're here now. Your dad set him straight, and he's got a great girl there." She shook her head. "Ugh, I don't know, Evan. But I'm afraid of where you'll go with your attitude of pushing other people away and not just Michael."
He was speechless, carrying on even when they were inside, but for some reason, the movie didn't interest Evan as much as he thought. Charlie's words haunted him, and so did Kaleia. The girl he knew he was in love with had agreed with his brother's girlfriend.
They both indirectly said he was a misanthrope.
He didn't have friends aside from Charlie and her little group, but that was all he needed. Now that he thought of it, he didn't have a circle outside the pizzeria, Uncle Henry after school, but...
Why couldn't Michael just keep his yap shut?! He was happy the way he was...
...or was he?
First in a series to come. :D Review!
