Michael Afton x Reader (The Return/Stay By My Side 2)

Chapter 1: Fresh Start

"You're mine too."

"Alright, this is getting sappy," Elizabeth interrupted.

"Elizabeth!" Clara muttered through gritted teeth.

I had to laugh.

"That was a good day today, don't you think?"

"I think so."

Michael put his arm around me after getting in the bed beside me. I snuggled closer to him and rested my head on his shoulder.

"Life is so amazing, isn't it?" He sighed.

"With you it is," I remarked, putting my hand on his chest and looking up at him. He looked down at me with a smile.

"I could say the exact same about you."

"I mean, we've got our own little place now, we've got a stable family, a great relationship... I've got everything I could ever want."

"I've got everything I could ever want too," he agreed. "But we could go on for hours about this. We should get some sleep. Tomorrow's a busy day."

"You're right."

Michael turned on his side and rested his arm around my waist. I kept my head on his shoulder and closed my eyes. He kissed the top of my head.

"Goodnight, y/n."

"Goodnight, Michael."

•••

"No! Let me out! I have a family! Someone let me out! I can't go like this!"

I quickly woke up and looked around, breathing heavily. Another nightmare... but a different one. Someone was screaming and crying for help. They sounded desperate. I knew I had heard that voice before, but I wasn't sure whose it was. All I knew was that the dream concerned me... a lot.

"Everything alright?" I heard Michael ask. I looked over and saw Michael who was just finishing getting ready. I didn't answer.

"Another nightmare about... back then?" He asked.

"Not about then. But it was a nightmare. A weird one."

"Wanna talk about it?" He offered, sitting down at the foot of my bed.

"There's not much to say of it." I sighed and sat up. "I just heard someone screaming and crying for help. That's all."

"Huh. Weird," he thought aloud.

"Yeah," I muttered. "But it's alright, it's just a dream. Now, I should probably get ready," I said trying to change the mood.

"Good idea. I was thinking we could head over to the pizzeria; maybe see if Henry needs help with anything."

"Sure thing." I stood up out of bed to go get ready. The dream floated in the back of my mind one last time, but I quickly pushed it out of my mind. There was no significance behind it anyway.

After a quick drive, we arrived at the new pizzeria. It seemed fairly busy for the first day. Michael and I headed towards the entrance. I saw a few signs that said "Hiring Now" or "Workers Needed". But then I saw one that said "Nightshift Guards Needed."

Now that gave me a shiver down my spine.

"Everything alright?" Michael asked.

"Oh yeah. Just found a little bit of nostalgia," I said sarcastically, pointing towards the last one. Michael cringed.

"Sheesh. Good luck to whoever has the guts to sign up."

"I'm sure they'll be fine. The animatronics aren't like the ones at the old places. They're not possessed," I insisted.

"I guess you're right." Michael shrugged, but walked away quickly. I figured that the posters brought back bad memories.

Once we walked inside, I noticed that there were already tons of people here. I could instantly tell that things with the business were going great. After wandering around for a bit, I heard a familiar voice.

"Y/n! Michael!"

Michael and I both looked over to the left to see Henry waving at us. We walked over towards him.

"Hey, Henry!" I said, waving back. "How're things going so far?"

"Great! They've never been better!" he exclaimed. "But I could use a little help from both of you."

"Sure thing, that's what we're here for," Michael said.

"All I need you two to do is tell the workers putting up some extra decorations where to put them," he explained. "Don't worry about checking in with me to make sure everything's perfect. I trust you both to make things look good."

"Sounds easy enough," I said. "We'll get right to it."

And so, that's what we did. It was a long afternoon, but there was nothing I'd rather be doing.