Either in the next chapter or after...we get into the goodness that's part of the franchise we know and love. ;D
Chapter Ten
The Gravity of Love
A week and a half since that fateful night she'd learned everything. Well, most of everything.
"God...I remember you now."
That was what she'd said aloud to herself when certain words plagued her mind in parts that she hadn't thought of for years, since the 1983 incident..."- even wanted to be here. Not even my crybaby of a little brother wants to be here. Those damned animatronics...scare the shit out of him..." She had been asking for the Foxy plush when there was another customer up there at the counter for the same reasons...and now it was all connected. He might not remember, but she intended to ask anyway.
Michael was the kid she'd met the day before IT happened. The one who cussed and grouched about being there against his will. Someone she never paid mind to at the time except for the innocent belief he'd shapen up after she called him out for his attitude and bad language.
But thinking about that boy compared to the man he was now - yeah, he wasn't that anymore. No one could tell her otherwise. Not even the man himself.
Just thinking about him wouldn't stop her heart from distracting her.
"KALEIA!"
And this was one of those days with Dr. Jones. She was just carrying a tray of supplies when someone bumped into her and caused her to lose her hold on the entire thing - and that also caused the brown bottle of medicine to shatter and spill. Damn it, she'd daydreamed before and always paid attention at the same time. This was a first for her, and now she was afraid of being in for it. The doctor had shouted her name as everything was happening.
"What in tar's name are you trying to do?!" Dr. Jones shouted, coming to join her. "Damn it, and this was for Mr. Seitz!"
"...maybe she should have watched where she was going."
Kaleia heard herself gasp in shock. That voice - "Deb?" She looked up to see the smugness in those now poisonous eyes. That was all it took for her to understand: she had played her all along, pretended to get along with her, and it came to this. She should have seen it right from the start.
The redhead then bent down and "helped" her pick it up, then snatching it out of her hands rudely while still smirking. "My job now since you weren't paying attention. Doc, you said this was for Mr. Seitz?"
The older man pinched the bridge of his nose, grumbling. "Was. Kaleia, I'll let this slide since it's your first accident, but you should have known better -" He was interrupted by another voice behind them.
Some nurses and doctors along with their patients and visitors were looking in their direction, a lot of them quickly going back to their own business while the rest stayed to witness the show, some eyes hinting at the need for popcorn thanks to the arrival of the outsider.
"Mr. Schmidt," Harrison Jones said in surprise. "I didn't know we had an appointment scheduled."
Michael scowled at him. "There isn't one, but I chose to come here and see Miss Kai." His attention landed on her, face softening. "And point out I saw what she did wasn't her fault."
Deb sputtered, one hand to her chest. "I don't know what you're talking about," she exclaimed.
"Oh, yes, you do," Mike said coolly, then turning his attention to his mother's primary physician, the very one who tended to him while he'd been near-dead last spring. "And Doctor, you want to blame one of your best for something that was out of her control? Then you don't want..." He paused, reaching into his jeans pocket, pulling out a photograph, and grinning ear to ear. "...this to get out, do you?"
Kaleia couldn't see what was on there, though she could barely make out the shapes through the semi-transparent white back. And the pallid complexion on her boss's face and Deb's reddened terror were enough to give her an idea that made her stomach roll. She had to leave them both and get back to work because a patient needed her. Michael knew where and how to find her.
"Why did you have to do that?" she asked him when she met up with him in the hospital cafeteria, later on her lunch break. She barely had much of an appetite except for the potatoes and gravy because they were easy on her stomach and filled her up, so that dominated much of her tray.
He shrugged, watching her but doing his best to not stare. "Long overdue, and it's not a secret. Jeremy, Junior, and I saw them together after we arrived at the tavern on our corner, after work. Last week. They were getting...freaky." Ugh, she was better off not knowing the details. "Right outside, and they were loud enough for us to hear. It was Jeremy's idea since he got wind from Melinda that your boss does shit with staff members and patients outside his practice that he isn't supposed to - consensual, charming, but still. Jer also had his camera on him and captured it while we were hiding, and then we ran like hell just as they were in the middle of it. Doc just had to hurry and fix his pants before he could chase after us, so he didn't know it was us until I showed the proof today."
"What do you intend to do with it? Report him?"
Mike grinned. "Could, or just have it as leverage as long as need be."
You cheeky devil, you. "...I like the way you think," Kaleia whispered, blood fired up. "But was that all why you came today?"
His smile faltered just a little, not wholly vanishing. "I realize I sort of treated you unfairly, and you didn't deserve it. I'm still a little afraid because I never had...this kind of happiness, until I met you. I was scared you would look at me the way everyone back in Hurricane did, but you didn't."
"I still have some nightmares about Desert Storm, but it had me ready for the world, except that's a different story." Kaleia reached for his hand, the right one, which lay on the cafeteria table surface. "I've done some thinking of my own." I hate people who hurt others to amuse themselves, but that was your sperm donor's fault. Time to start moving forward, not relapsing just because you saw the latest news of him. I'm sorry if that's hard and insensitive, but it's the truth. "I should have told you right away that I knew who you were before that night, but I was scared of running you off that way, that you'd assume I would think differently of you."
He shook his head, tightening his fingers around hers in return. "I actually should blame my mother, but she was doing it for me, so I could forgive her a little. I appreciate it though. And what you said was the...sweetest I've ever heard. Everything you said before. You love taking chances, so I've decided to do that now by asking you this: will you go on a date with me?"
~o~
HURRICANE PIZZERIA TO CLOSE BY YEAR'S END
"And why wasn't this done a long time ago when those kids went missing?" Michael grumbled as he scowled down at the newspaper Uncle Henry had read that morning and left on the kitchen table.
Fazbear Entertainment all but had no choice but to put everything on hold for the foreseeable future since it booted its own other founder. That included several health code violations, the lawsuits by the families of the missing children leaving it bankrupt, and nobody willing to touch that place with a ten-foot pole. Michael was glad for that but had a feeling the families would love nothing more than to burn the damned place down, get a lot of the other townspeople to gather into a mob like the old days. That, and hunt down William Afton to hang him in a tree by the throat. All he could do was dream.
Now that William was done, half of him wondered if he'd remain in Hurricane or go someplace else...what about here?
No, he didn't want to think about that. But he couldn't help it.
He had a date to get ready for tonight, at the start of August. He waited weeks for this and saved up for it - for that one inn/restaurant that was said to "make you want to stop again and again if you're in the area". Everything made from scratch and mixed with flare. Seafood, meats, breakfast food...yeah, Kaleia did say she wanted to do that, and nothing fancy.
Okay, while he waited for the time to go, scarfing down a Coke on the kitchen table, and watching the time on the clock, he thought back to when he and Henry were out man to man because Clara had to send them on errands she couldn't make herself, they wound up passing by the jewelry store - and in the window were the most splendid array of rings he'd seen. Some were within his potential range, others out of bounds.
Mom's old ring was gold, so the ring for Michael's future bride-to-be had to be the same metal. He got to know her enough since March, they were gonna have their first date, and he already knew she was the one.
Any of them would have gone well with Clara's: half of one ring consisted of brilliants and the other half emerald cuts, two of the most popular, in a cutting-edge setting. Next was a more delicate design of yellow diamonds, but then again, the longer Michael looked at it, he had a feeling the luxury with this one would wear off; it would work for someone else, but not his Kaleia. The third turned out to just be too damned fancy despite its modern invention, topping the eternity-style baguettes with tinier rounds. The last made him think of Grace Kelly's original engagement ring before the official one she'd received from Prince Rainier III, with vintage rubies alternating with diamonds, but again, the damned price.
There was one that he kept going back to that clicked right with him. All he had to do was save up till he could acquire it and propose at the right time.
Whoop, time to get the flowers.
Said flowers were the bouquet he'd ordered ahead of time, chosen specifically based on the season and their meanings. Something minimalistic and lushly scented. White was the perfect balance of all colors, clean and perfect without a blemish, yet its downside was the tendency to be cold and boring to others. Old-fashioned ways of thinking lumped it in with sexual purity and innocence.
Gardenias, to inexperienced ones, were sometimes mistaken for roses, and that was what Michael had thought until the florist helped him out. Their smell was like some kind of perfume, sweet and biting, and yet you couldn't get enough of it. The guy who sold them said they were an elegant symbol of the deep love you wanted so much to express, to charm. Alstroemerias strongly linked bonds through tough times, a silent way of encouraging strength and support.
Both flowers were to show how much you care about that person.
He was just about to leave, getting his keys to the new car for himself that he got cheap last month, and fixed himself with Henry when he heard the front door open. "Mikey, I'm home!" Clara called out to him. She then rounded the corner of the kitchen just as he was putting his empty glass in the dishwasher, keys in one pocket. She smiled. "About to leave, I see."
"Yep, gotta get the flowers before I head over there."
Clara had apparently found the time to go out shopping if the large garment bag over one arm was anything to go by. "Potential date night with Henry. Been a while for both of us and first time together." She wasted no time dropping that bomb on him.
Michael gawked at her. Okay, so she and his uncle figure were very comfortable around each other, but he'd assumed similar to a brother and sister. Not once did he...or maybe he might have noticed the way they might have looked at each other a few times. Henry's wife dead of childbirth complications, William out of the picture of his own doing -
"You and Uncle Henry? Since when?" he managed, standing so straight he thought he'd break his spine. She laughed, covering her mouth for a moment before moving it to the cheek, palm flat.
"A while. But we didn't know how to tell you, sweetie. Please, don't be angry with us. It's one of those things that's hard to put into words. We're done playing it safe, just like my boy who I'm proud of."
Done playing it safe.
He kissed her on the forehead, not angry but also wishing he'd known before. Everyone deserved happiness again after so much shit. He would know. "Well, see you later, Mum."
"Have fun, honey. And be safe!"
~o~
Maybe it was too sexy, but it was done. She was gonna roll.
She'd played things safe with her clothing every time around Michael, but Melinda insisted that she go all out, sorta, with this sumptuous number in a comfortable, skin-soft material. Just one little problem: her grandparents would want her to cover up "just to be safe" since it definitely was a little revealing. Not being see-through was a small blessing, but still. Her first real date with a guy she liked required something fiery, her best friend said.
Grandma was over the moon that her grandbaby was finally going out with someone. Grandpa was, too, but he also gave her pepper spray just in case, saying it would just give him and her grandmother peace of mind. Kaleia relented, refusing to deny it.
She looked herself over in the bathroom mirror, taking in crimson baring her arms and shoulders, gathering in a vertical line down the middle of her body so that the draping flattered her curves; ending at the knees were fringed threads reaching her ankles. She tied her hair in a low ponytail held by a clip of mother-of-pearl, a shimmering red rosebud and green leaves against the iridescent background, to show off the opulent ruby chandelier earrings, which had been gifted to Akela during one of her and Mason's past anniversaries since she was his "queen", so she said Kaleia deserved to feel like one tonight, which made it special. Finishing touch: the hammered gold dragonfly brooch in the center of her gathered bust, glittering with an array of rainbow gems in a whimsical Art Nouveau setting.
When she went out into the living room, everyone was there. Her grandparents were in each other's arms on the sofa, Melinda with a medical textbook in hand for light reading, and they turned their attentions in her direction as soon as they heard her footsteps. Their eyes all bulged, Akela gawking without words and her eyes misting a little, Mason shaking his head and chuckling in his throat, and Melinda giving her the thumbs up, mouthing "Go, girl".
"But you better put that cover on, girl!" Akela told her seriously, waving towards the hangar where everyone's coats were. The netted black sweater, made for spring and summer weather, was for the taking.
"Love you all!" Kaleia called over her shoulder before going out the door, closing it, and locking it behind her, just as headlights shone on the driveway. Giddily, she rushed down, her kitten-heeled sandals - black bow over the toes, the heels themselves composed of faux diamond shapes - halting her steps and warning her to not trip herself in her excitement.
Michael was just coming out from the driver's side, exclaiming and rushing towards her at the same time. "That excited to see me?"
"What do you think?" Kaleia had no idea why she was out of breath. Maybe it was just the thrill building up in her lungs. Then she looked down in his hand, gasping at the flowers she was surprised to receive at all. "Gardenias and -?"
"Alstroemerias, I was told, if I'm pronouncing it right." Michael chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck. "You know what they represent?" Kaleia didn't know what all flowers in their language meant, so no. "Gardenias for secret love and the others are for...well, white is for purity, healing, and respect. Generally, fresh starts and every form of love. Thought roses were too expected." He was right. Roses she'd accept another time, maybe. "I wanted to show you how I felt about you without words."
Her breath seized on her again, and they were still in front of her family home when Melinda and her grandparents could very much be watching from one or two of the windows. "Last few weeks felt like I'd waited forever," Mike went on heavily, out of breath himself. "I played it safe ever since Hurricane, and it did more harm than good to me, but you, my mom, Henry, Jeremy, and everyone pushed my walls down brick by brick. It's our first date, but I'm not scared to say it anymore, Kaleia: you have my heart from now on."
Damn it, now she could cry happily, and she thanked God she never wore mascara, liner, or even shadow. Hell, if he could pour his heart out to her, then it was her turn.
"Michael, I've been in love with you since before I learned who you were."
Mike and Kaleia had their date at the real-life Timberline Inn Restaurant in Beaver, Utah. :) Right after their lil love confession which had to come at the right time.