I stared into the darkness of his empty eyes, the floor was cold and uncomfortable, and I felt some thick and warm fluid flowing down my cheek. With a shaky hand I reached towards my face and rubbed the blood off. All this time we were looking deep into each other’s eyes, the dark abysses in his face seemed to call me to them for something. But I couldn’t have known for what. For a staring duel? Or a fight till death. Either way if it was the first option - I just lost by closing my eyes. I blinked a couple of times and finally got a good look at the empty bear head.

I let it go and it fell to the floor with a quiet clang of metal - these were the wires that were holding the bear’s jaw in place that cut me when the mask fell at me from a high shelf. I didn’t even remember when this could have happened, but I wasn’t too surprised. Not many things made real sense tonight. I quickly dusted off my knees and the place where the back loses its noble name and stood up.

The digital clock indicated that it’s already 2AM. “So I slept for two hours since I came here” - I thought with my hand just above the work tablet. “Wait, I did wake up earlier…” - I reached for the tablet and started to look through cameras. “I remember that I woke up at first AM, and before that…” - I shook my head while looking at the broken Kitchen camera. “I woke up, went to the dining area and then” - I finally clicked the button labeled ‘main stage’ - “Freddy” - Almost out loud I called to the animatronic, one of the three that were once again absent from the stage. “Wait, they were there where I came, right?” I questioned myself, trying to remember any articles suggesting Fazbear Entertainment got rid of their animatronics.

I heard a weird noise just behind the door. I quickly threw the tablet which stopped just on the edge of the desk, balancing as if it were wondering whether to fall down and break on the cold tiles, or lie down safely on the fake wooden desk. I didn’t see what decision it came to, the darkness of the hallway had my whole attention. But by the lack of a crushing electronics sound I relaxed a little, realizing that it won’t be taken off my paycheck. I reached behind me in search of the flashlight. But it wasn’t where I saw it recently.

I looked behind and in the corner of my eye I noticed it on the floor just under the second desk. Slowly walking backwards, still staring at the empty doorway, I didn’t understand what I was so afraid of. I felt it could have something to do with the dreams I had but I couldn’t recollect them. The shakiness of my hands and the strong need to run away just made me more confused. Finally I felt it. The cold hard plastic calmed me down. While still squatting I quickly turned on the flashlight and looked at the corridor. It was empty, looking almost as if it lacked something.

Sigh of relief sounded in the office when I realized that the source of the weird noise was some round decoration - as suggested by the circular shape of dust on the wall - that fell off the wall and hit a bucket below it. I quickly got up, laughing at myself inside, thinking just how stupid and vulnerable to suggestions I was. I don’t know how I did not notice it earlier. Maybe it was the fear or the fact that I was crouching before, but now I felt perfectly clear. Warm air blew through my neck, again and again, like human breath. A shiver ran down my spine, my muscles tensed up and I held my breath. But soon it all passed when I finally heard his voice.

— O Hey! — Said to me Freddy. — Something’s wrong? — He sounded clearly worried.

— No, no! I’m alrrigh… — I stopped mid sentence, seeing him for the first time without his suit.

— Are you sure you are okay? — His smile seemed almost shy.

Before me stood a man, a couple of years older than me. His brown and long hair came down in waves on the sides of his handsome, although unshaved face. He was wearing a light-brown shirt with star-shaped patches sewn onto it, and dark-brown dungarees with colorful suspenders. His outfit was complemented by many pins and a black bowtie with a bear-head shaped pin. I had to lean back on the desk while I admired him.

— Something’s on my face? — He wiped off something from his forehead, and I had to quickly turn around to hide blushing.

— No, no! You look great! — I couldn’t stop myself in time. — I mean in that sense that you… well you don’t have anything on your face. — Freddy looked at me with a warm smile.

— That’s good. It would be a little awkward if I came dirty to our first meeting. — “First?” I thought to myself a little surprised. “But we’ve met already, haven’t we?”. I frowned while trying to separate the dreams from my memories. — Huh? — He looked at me, visibly interested. — What are you thinking about?

— Me? Oh, no, nothing, I’ve just misremembered something! — I smiled at him, which clearly calmed him down.

— That’s great! — He clapped his hands and sat down on the desk. — So, how do you feel here?

— Oh it’s pretty nice! — I answered, matching his positive energy. — It’s warm, I can sleep a little, the perfect job!

— See? — He smiled. — But beware! That’s how they got me here too! And now look at me, walkin’ around in a bear suit! — I laughed along with him.

— Well as long as I don’t get myself eaten by the bear I’ll be alright ey?

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

— Huh? — He raised an eyebrow, a little confused — Aaaa! Yes yes, you just have to not get eaten. Henry warned you, ey?

— Yeah, a pleasant type. — I answered and hid my hands in my pockets. — Actually, I had no idea you would be here. No one mentioned that.

— Oh, right, I shouldn’t be here! — He laughed awkwardly.

— What? — I stopped smiling. — So how did you get here?

— Oh you know. — He shined his perfectly white teeth. — It’s my little secret! I hope you keep my presence to yourself, cause I won’t be the only one having troubles — He winked. — But maybe don’t sleep on the work next time.

I laughed nervously and made a gesture of locking my mouth with a padlock and throwing the key away. Freddy smiled at me and stretched a little. Just then I finally noticed how well built he is. I saw his muscles working under the clothes, beautifully visible through a little too small shirt. I felt a weird warmth in my stomach.

I started to think I might not be perfectly hetero while in high school, when at a party I kissed some friend of a friend. Since then I was dating only girls, probably mostly because of my bigoted parents. Since I moved out of the house though I started to fantasize more and more about dating other men. I was hiding those fantasies deeply and this made me even more confused now that I felt a weird attraction to my new coworker. His body made me want him, and his voice sent weird shivers down my body.

“Oh god, I’m gay” screamed a quiet voice in my head, making my skin turn more and more red. “Calm down” I shook my own self just in time for that handsome man who was just around one and a half meters away from me finally looked back at me. Our glances met for a hundredth of a second, I saw his deep blue eyes, happily glistening in the light of a barely working light bulb. I wanted this moment to last ages, but it ended as quickly as it stopped when he turned his sight away. He seemed a little flustered.

I turned my head away, angry at myself for making him feel uncomfortable.

— So… — He started while taking in a fresh breath of air. —Y/N… maybe we’ll go for a round? — I thanked him in my inside voice for that proposition and quickly stood up, smiling at him apologetically.

Empty corridors of the Freddy’s pizzeria got filled by the echoes of our steps, his metal nosed work boots and my sneakers. I was just a little shorter than him so we quickly found a rhythm good for both of us. The dialogue was very awkward at the beginning, but soon it turned out that we had quite a lot in common. We both studied in the same city and we were quite literally neighbors. I lived in a block and he was in the house just behind mine. We both loved the animatronic band when we were growing up and both him and me - found our first job here. He decided to stay for longer, I didn’t know what to do yet.

I barely even noticed that weird smell coming from the broom closet in the east corridor, but I didn’t press the matter, cause our discussion went so well.

We made a couple of rounds, making sure that everything was how it was supposed to be, and finally ended up in the service room. Empty costumes and parts of their endoskeletons seemed quite unnerving, but somehow, being here with him, I felt safe. We were just sitting on the table, reminiscing about our youth.

— Have you ever kissed someone? — He asked suddenly.

— What? — I looked at him perplexed, not understanding if he is suggesting something or if he is genuinely just curious.

— Well.. um. — He hesitated. — Did you ever kiss a girl?

— Oh, well, yeah, happened a couple of times, nothing serious. — I waved my hand dismissively. — And you?

— No… — He looked down and started playing with his hands.

— And with a man? — I smiled seeing his surprised expression.

— Once. — He almost whispered. — I wasn’t ever really interested in other people, so that one time was enough for me. It was special, ya know?

A deep silence fell between us. Neither of us knew what to say, or in which direction to push our conversation. He seemed to think about something intensively and looked a little scared. As if he was afraid I would judge him for who he was. I cleared my throat to get his attention. He looked at me with his beautiful eyes, covered under long lashes.

— Me too. — I answered, without turning my head away. — I kissed a man… once, at some party, ages ago.

— Drunk? — He chuckled.

— No. — I shook my head. — I was sober, I think it was something… real… But we haven't met since then, and I was afraid to search for him through our mutual friends. You know, not everyone tolerates people like us.

He nodded, confirming his words, and frowned his eyebrows.

— Do you at least know his name? Maybe you can search for him now, through the internet? Or maybe I know him, considering that we are from the same city.

— Sorry, I don’t know it… — I answered. — Besides, it was ages ago, he probably changed a lot, I doubt I’d be able to recognise him, and it’s kind of weird to just be asking randomly.

— I suppose you right, but it’s still worth a try, right? — He looked right into my eyes, and my heartbeat quickened. — You know what? I just thought of something.

— Yeah? — I leaned forward, looking at his glimmering eyes. Time seemed to slow down, I was able to hear the blood coursing through my veins. This moment felt magical, like something I was used to seeing in movies and bad TV series. But this time it was real.

— You said you kissed for the first time at a party. — He started, visibly Nervous. — James’s birthday? He got that fun RC helicopter then, all the boys forgot about drinking and played with it like kids.

Our faces were barely centimeters away. Something pushed us towards each other, some power beyond our comprehension. I felt I could be peaceful at last, because I found my own place on this planet. Just then, together, we closed our eyes. I felt his warm, mint scented breath on my face, and then melted with pleasure.

His lips were soft, warm and a little wet. I felt them shake. “Or maybe” - I thought “is it me who is shaking?”. My heart was beating fast, seemingly trying to escape my chest, and fly itself to meet Freddy’s lips.

It ended as quickly as it started. I wanted this moment to last longer, but he moved back. I stared into his blue eyes, a little surprised and fearful, that I might have pushed things too quickly for him. The silence could have been cut with a knife, but he finally changed it with his calming voice.

— So it was you? — I raised my eyebrows. — Back at that party. It was you.

Only then did everything that he said click, I was too distracted to understand before but now I knew. We were meant for each other, and now once more we were together, and nothing could change that.

— Yes. — That’s all I was able to mutter, trying to hold my emotions back.

We sat in silence for the rest of the hour, cuddling and thinking about the future.