Chapter Text
"Stay away from us."
"What?"
"I can't trust you.."
"Mike-"
"Just stay away."
Mike's own word's haunted him as the conversation replayed in his head, over and over.
Had he done the right thing?
It had been a rough few days since...everything that happened. Mike was trying to bring his life with Abby back to something resembling normal. He wanted to put their lives back together, restore it, like the torn up house they'd come home to after that night. The animatronic culprits who caused the mess were mysteriously absent from the scene. Unlike Abby, Mike didn't care where they were, as long as they weren't his problem anymore.
"Well, you know Mike, this house needed more work done anyway." Jeremiah had said, trying to look on the bright side. He'd let Mike and Abby stay at his place overnight, and then stopped by to help Mike with the damage. The two men had spent hours making the house livable again, without once saying a word about Freddy's.
For Mike, the process was refreshingly straightforward. A welcomed break from his endlessly spiraling thoughts. Mike could pick up broken glass, he could replace the windows and board up the holes in the walls. A house was something that Mike knew how to fix. His life however, his family, couldn't simply be fixed with plaster. "I'm trying to fix my family." Mike stood by those words, unlike other things he'd said recently. "I'm trying to fix you." That had been a poor choice of words. He regretted saying that, but not as deeply as what came later.
In the aftermath of that night, and with a younger sister to take care of, Mike Schmidt was a busy man. He had a lot to do. He had a lot to think about. No matter where his mind wandered though, it always returned to the same place. Or rather, the same person...
Vanessa...
The sorrow Mike saw in her eyes when he told her to stay away, was something he just couldn't forget, try as he might.
The woman was already on his mind all the time before the latest Freddy's mess, but now it was for different reasons.
Abby was certainly not making it easier for him, as she kept asking about Vanessa. Mike told Abby they needed to distance themselves from her, for their safety. "She.. she's not someone we can trust, Abby. We're not safe with her. Danger just follows her.. everywhere, and she never warns us about it." He'd said this in a soft tone, trying to lessen the blow. Mike knew Abby would be saddened by no longer having Vanessa in her life. He wasn't too surprised when an argument broke out between them, but he was surprised by just how upset with him Abby had been.
Mike didn't remember the whole argument, but he remembered how awful he felt afterwards. He remembered Abby crying in her room, but telling him to leave her alone when he tried to comfort her. Mike didn't sleep that night, even though he was tired. He'd stared at the ceiling, with Abby's hurt voice and Vanessa's pained eyes drowning him in guilt until morning came.
"What do you mean we're not safe with her, she saved us Mike! She got stabbed to save us... she chose us over her own brother!"
"After everything she's done for us...you're just gonna push her away?"
Mike sighed as Abby's words echoed back to him. He took a sip of his drink and slumped over in his chair. After a night of tossing and turning, he found himself staring at the phone on his desk. Mike realizes he's probably thought about calling her everyday since that night, but he's been too scared to try. The fear of once again misspeaking was keeping him away.
Mike had always struggled with words. It seemed like he always managed to say the wrong thing, and make things worse.
Mike closed his eyes and breathed slowly, trying to calm his nerves. When he opened his eyes again, the room suddenly felt far too quiet. The silence... wasn't right. He needed to say something, he owed it to her. Mike thought he owed Vanessa a lot more than he could ever hope to give back, but he could at least give her better than nothing. He reached for the phone, and slowly, dialed her number.
It went to voicemail. Mike wasn't sure if he was relieved or frustrated that she didn't actually answer, maybe both, weirdly. He considered leaving a message after deciding what to say first, but he starts talking before he can think twice.
"Hi, Vanessa.. it's me. I um- I wanted to talk about...that night. What I said...it came out way too harsh, and I was stressed out...at the time. And uh-" Mike cuts himself off. His heart was pounding in his chest. He felt like he was rambling too much. Maybe he should get to the point.
"I'm sorry Vanessa." Mike says finally. "I'm sorry, I should've started with that. I shouldn't have said...what I said to you. I was mad, at you, in that moment. For.. not being honest but- It was wrong. It was way too mean." He was fumbling his words, but he felt like a weight had been lifted off his chest already. "Y-you've done so much, for me and Abby. You saved us. You took a knife for us...and I should never forget that. You weren't.. super honest about your past. But, I mean, it was so horrible. It must be so hard to talk about." He says solemnly, sincerely.
"But, Vanessa you've been on my side, through every part of this mess. We owe you so much. I owe you so much." Mike says softly. He's startled by how open and vulnerable he was being. It was scary, but Vanessa deserved to hear it. He wanted her to hear it. "So uh.. yeah. I'm sorry, I'm really sorry. Please call me back sometime, I want to hear from you. I want to know that you're okay." Mike says softly and then puts down the phone, ending the message.
The room is quiet, and Mike feels like he can breathe again.
He hears soft footsteps approach from behind him and he doesn't need to turn around to see who it is. "Hey." He says simply, not sure what answer he expects in return.
"Hey." Abby responds, voice soft, grounding. Her presence puts him at ease a little bit. She didn't need to say anything, Mike just appreciated her being with him in the moment.
Mike then remembers their fight the other day, and feels a tang of guilt. "Hey Abs, I'm sorry. To you too, for last night.." His apology comes out awkwardly but Abby smiles when she meets his gaze.
"I know. It's ok." She says. Mike returns her smile, although the guilt wasn't completely gone. Abby gives him a side hug that he quickly returns. Mike wonders if she can tell that he still feels bad. Probably, he knows she is more intuitive than him. "Tell me when she calls you back, please?" Abby asks. "And tell her I wanna talk to her too." She adds quickly.
"I will." Mike answers, simple, but truthful.
Mike still isn't sure if he said the right things to Vanessa, but he knows that what he did say was better than nothing. He knows one phone message won't solve everything, but he feels like he's taken a good step forward. Vanessa didn't return his call that day, or the next day, but that was fine.
Mike was sure he would hear from her again soon.