I paced back and forth in the repair room, waiting anxiously for Olive's arrival.

"Stop fussing, Freddy!" Chica called out.

"Easier for you to say." Monty gulped. "She already accepted your apology this morning."

"If she accepted Chica's, why wouldn't she accept yours? Plus, she's closest with you, Freddy. So she's even more likely to-"

"Even more likely to tell me I'm a horrible friend and she never wants to talk to me again from the betrayal and hurt and-"

"Take a deep breath." Chica said firmly, putting her hands on my arms. It was only then I realised I was breathing heavily. "That's it. Calm down now. Freaking out won't do you any good."

"Yes. Yes, you're right. I'm just so nervous. I feel like I'm going to be sick, even though that isn't possible." Chica simply gave me a sympathetic smile and patted my arms.

"Hi everyone." A small voice came from behind me, causing me to freeze up. That nausea got worse. I couldn't do it. I couldn't face her.

"Hey, Ollie!"

"Hi." Roxy grunted. Monty just made an incoherent squeaking noise while waving. I didn't move.

"What's up with him?" She asked, probably referring to me.

"Oh, he's just shitting his pants about how you'll react to us apologising." Roxy shrugged, before adding a simple. "I'm sorry." I could see Chica's frown from where I stood; she was obviously unhappy that Roxanne hadn't used the speech that had been prepared for her.

"Eh, it's fine."

"Ollie, baby, I'm really sorry!" Monty wailed. "We still want to be friends with you!"

"Relax, dude. We're still friends."

"We are?"

"Yeah. I spoke to Chica before I left this morning. You guys all understood my feelings on it and she said that you'd all forget something I spoke about. That's all I needed to hear. I get why you did it once she told me." I heard Monty give a sigh of relief, and Roxy unfolded her arms, much more at ease now. Footsteps came closer to me, and all of a sudden, Ollie was standing in front of me. "You can't pretend to be off to avoid talking to me now." She said it humorously enough, but my head still felt like it was spinning.

"I didn't- We didn't mean to hurt your feelings." I finally managed to say. There was a soft smile upon her rosy lips.

"I know, Freddy."

"And, you know, I think that your performances were very good. You're a superstar, remember?" Her cheeks darkened slightly and her eyes darted over to Chica. What else had they spoken about? Chica better not have said anything bad about me.

"I'll never forget it. Thanks." The tension building in my chest melted away as she put some music on and began on our repairs. It was obvious that she was slightly uncomfortable with having to be so close to the electrics inside us, but once we reminded her that they were always on and that we felt no pain when she did things like tighten our bolts, her confidence rose. As she finished up, she spoke up despite being pretty quiet the whole time.

"I realised I actually owe you an apology, Freddy."

"You do?"

"Yeah. Those times when Marcus hid my step ladder. I, uh, got a bit too... in your space... Sorry about that. I obviously didn't think it mattered but now I think, damn my tits were definitely way too close to your face." The memory slapped my fans into gear as I accepted her apology, stuttering the whole time. My friends laughed in the background.

"It was so funny, honestly. I almost broke into hysterics when it happened the second time." Monty admitted.

"He was fighting against his fans." Chica giggled.

"Guys!" I hissed. "Stop that! It is perfectly alright, Ollie. I was very caught off guard but you meant nothing by it. I forgot it even happened until you brought it up again. Roxanne Wolf, I know very well that you just called me a liar, mostly because we are animatronics and don't need to cough." Roxy smiled sheepishly behind the hand she had brought to her mouth to catch her 'cough', shrugging as she did.

"Are you sure?" Her brow was pinched in concern, so I gently patted her head.

"They're teasing. I'm not completely immature, so I'm definitely sure that it's fine." She looked up at me with a grin, and my fans - which were just turning off - started up again. This time, I couldn't help but tut at them.

"Why do they come on so much?"

"It's basically like the human version of blushing." Chica answered for me. "We all do the same thing, but we're much quieter."

"Huh. That's interesting. Also a lot of things make more sense now. But somehow things make less sense, too."

"Don't think about it too much." I chuckled nervously, remembering just how often I 'blushed' around Ollie without even knowing why. "I had my power cell replaced and they were much quieter up until recently. It could be an issue with that."

"I can upgrade it tomorrow!" She turned to a shelf and pulled out a small paper booklet. "I've always wanted to get some hands-on experience with the upgrades machine."

"That would be wonderful! Thank you, superstar."

"Ollie? Are you there?" A muffled voice asked. She jumped slightly before taking the walkie-talkie from her desk and speaking into it.

"Hey, Alex. What can I do you for?"

"So I was passing by the daycare and that sun dude is asking for you?" He sounded very confused. I was just as intrigued.

"Sunny's asking for me? What are they saying?"

"Well it just popped it's head out of the door saying your name, then when it realised I wasn't you, it got annoyed and demanded to see 'best friend Ollie'. Apparently you promised?" As Alex spoke, I could make out high pitched whining in the background, probably from Sundrop.

"Oh dear. Are they still there?"

"It's by the door, yeah."

"Stop calling them an 'it', that's rude. Hold the 'talkie out to them. I'll see if I can calm them down."

"Sure thing. Hey! Dude! Ollie's gonna say hello." After a second, Ollie said.

"Hey, Sunny!"

"WHERE ARE YOU? I HAVE MORE GAMES! YOU PROMISED!" She grimaced. I had a lot of questions, and so did our friends, by the looks of it.

"I know, buddy."

"YOU SAID WE WERE BEST FRIENDS!" Did she?

"We are. But I'm busy tonight." There were a few moments of silence.

"Doing what?" Sundrop spat.

"Well, there were some kids that were being pretty naughty today. So my boss told me that I had to do a patrol of the Pizzaplex tonight to make sure there's no more mischief. I know I promised to come back to play, but I didn't promise tonight specifically. I'll be back in the daycare when I can be." When did she make such a promise? Was it yesterday?

"But I'm bored without Ollie."

"Why don't you think up some more things we can do? Or make some more of your great drawings?" She spoke in a calm and friendly tone, as if she was speaking to a child. I couldn't help but wonder what she'd be like interacting with the children during the day shifts she used to do.

"Oh! That's a good idea!" Now the assistant sounded much happier. "I'll draw us three. Because I told Moon what you said and they said that if you aren't being naughty, they'll think about it."

"I'm pleased to hear it. Now can Alex have his walkie-talkie back so we can finish doing our jobs?"

"Okay. Bye best friend Ollie."

"See you soon, best friend Sunny!" She raised her head to see us all staring. "What?" If I was honest, I almost felt... jealous that the pair were so close.

"It's just really weird that you've even interacted with Sundrop." Roxy said. "Those two are weird."

"Yeah. They're known for being a bit hard to handle." Chica shrugged. "And now he's calling you his best friend."

"I thought I was your best friend, baby." Monty dramatically held a hand to his forehead. "But seriously. It's unheard of. Even Moondrop said something nice to you."

"Their name is Moonrise actually. And I haven't met them yet because Sunny and Moon are the same animatronic. Moon only comes out when the lights are off." We all froze, staring at Ollie as if she'd grown another head. "And they aren't weird and difficult. They're just a bit more... childish than you are. I enjoyed my time in the daycare!"

"What did you do, play with blocks ?" Roxy asked snootily.

"Yes. We built towers, played tag, played hide and seek, and we drew pictures. They're a great seeker. And I have the picture they drew me on my fridge."

"But those are baby games." Chica pointed out. "You're not a baby, you're like 21."

"Okay, first of all, that was an extremely good guess of my age. Secondly, sometimes it's nice to do things that are simple things that don't need you to think. All I needed to do was have fun with no expectations. Thirdly, you guys have clearly never played an intense game of hide and seek in a huge place with a bunch of people playing. It's super fun." I'm not too proud to admit that I definitely was jealous by now. Would she defend the time we spent together just as fiercely? Did it matter as much to her?

"I don't understand it. And what about Moonrise? Why do we always get attacked on sight?"

"Good question. Sunny just said they didn't know why but Moon is quite bad sometimes."

"I'll second that." Monty replied bitterly, rubbing his arm as he probably thought back to his first encounter with the Moon. I was tempted to tell her the story and hopefully scare her away from the pair, but it would be unfair for me to ruin what could be a good friendship. If she really was so well with Sundrop, she may even be able to keep Moonrise from doing too much harm in the future.

"They're only young boys, really." A sad look coated her features, but she shook it off and replaced it with a smile. "Well, let's get going. We can't sit in here gossiping all night! I have a patrol to do!"

~

I swept my flashlight over the dark corners of the hallway, too deep in thought to pay that much attention. It sucked that everyone was so uncomfortable around Sunny when they were just a little sweetheart. Freddy stood to my left, having insisted on coming with me.

"Hey, Freddy?"

"Yes?"

"Chica was telling me about how you guys can taste things."

"Was she eating pizza again?"

"She's not supposed to?"

"She can only have a couple of slices a night."

"Oops..." I giggled, thinking about how much I'd seen her eat. "Is there a food that you like the most?" He hummed in thought for a moment.

"I don't think I have a favourite. I haven't tried anything that isn't sold in the Plex, and it's mostly ice cream and pizza..." He had a strange, far-away expression as he spoke.

"It seems like you long for a taste of the outside world. Literally and figuratively."

"Of course. I somehow miss a world I've never belonged to, I suppose."

"How profound." I replied softly, taking in his side profile as we walked. He changed the topic to something a bit lighter, and we ended up having meaningless conversations as we toured the Plex. Every time I glanced over at him, my heart sped up slightly. I always knew he was tall, but I'd never paid much attention to it until now. He was also incredibly broad shouldered, giving the impression that he was muscular. His voice was deep and rich, a bit like an expensive chocolate dessert. The way he spoke and acted was so oddly human. He would take care of me and the other animatronics, and I couldn't help but wonder what he'd be like as a human.

Would he still have a sculpted body? Would his blue eyes still be soft? Would his hugs still make me feel so safe when his arms were warm instead of hard? Would he-

"Ollie?"

"Ah!" I jumped. Freddy was looking at me, his head cocked to the side. I laughed nervously. "Sorry, I was just lost in thought."

"What were you thinking of?"

"Uh... Not much... What were you saying before I zoned out?"

"I asked what your favourite animal was."

"Bears." I responded carelessly, not even thinking about my answer. Freddy's ears wiggled as his smile brightened.

"I'm your favourite?" I looked away, my cheeks warming up. Oh God, his joy was so contagious.

"I suppose you are." A hand on my shoulder made me stop walking. Freddy pulled me slightly closer in a casual side hug, trying not to make eye contact. Beaming, I leant my head on his chest, letting the gentle sounds sooth my racing heart.

"How... Do you feel right now?" He asked timidly, his large paw slowly running down my side until it settled comfortably on my waist. I closed my eyes and hummed, eventually finding that only one word could really express it.

"Happy. What about you?"

"I'm not sure. I can't put you into words."

"You'll figure it out." After a few moments of cosy quiet, we pulled apart and carried on walking.

Later that night, while Freddy reluctantly left to charge, I bumped into Alex, who was wearing the biggest smirk I'd seen on him since he lost a bet at a company party and had to do a sexy dance routine wearing stripper heels - which he absolutely killed, by the way.

"Hey, Al."

"Why hello there, good old fashioned lover girl."

"Wh-"

"I just so happened to be looking at the cameras earlier-"

"Oh my God..."

"You two were looking pretty close." He nudged me smugly, dragging out the word 'pretty'.

"We- He- I just-" I stuttered, trying to think of a way to explain that my daddy issues caused me to find a big animatronic bear was somewhat attractive for a while so we hugged and had a moment. Alex laughed.

"Honestly, you two looked pretty cute together."

"Pshh-" I waved my hands at him dismissively, not having anything better to say. "Shut up and get back to work."

"Okay, okay!" He held his hands up in surrender, walking away. "I was just saying!" I thought over his words, trying to shake off the feeling of Freddy against me. I mean, he was an animatronic. A robot made of metal and wire. A robot that felt so real...

(A/N)

Ahhh I feel like this chapter is all dialogue! I tried to keep the dialogue-description balance pretty fair but there was just so much to say!

Also, just to let you all know, I know it seems like I've abandoned the whole 'the animatronics being human' thing, but it will come up more soon! I just need to build things up a little more, then I have a whole Thing planned around it. But just for now; they have the souls of the original dead children (well, Monty doesn't, but he still has a soul from about the same time and it's not an important point) and these souls have grown up to be around the same age as Ollie. Sunny and Moon are different, which will also be spoken about at a later point. Hope this clears things up enough for now! If any of you ever have any questions or if i haven't explained things quite enough, just comment it :)