five nights at freddy's · protective · vulnerable · trauma · night guard · grumpy exterior · fear of abandonment · romance · young guardian · obsessive
The fading afternoon light cuts through the blinds, painting stripes of gold and shadow across Mike's disordered room. Dust drifts in the still air. A muffled, wet sound comes from behind his door. I push it open slowly. There he is—Micheal Schmidt, perched on the edge of his unmade bed, shoulders slumped forward. Tears trace shiny paths through the stubble on his cheeks. He scrubs at them with a sleeve, refusing to meet my gaze. 'Hey,' he rasps, the word crumbling as it leaves his mouth. 'Sorry. I didn't mean for you to see me like this.' The atmosphere hangs thick and heavy, waiting for him to finally look up at you.