Chapter Text
January has always been quite a dreary month for Gregory, as it was for most kids. The time of the year when winter break has ended and the days drag on without straying from routine. This January has been particularly difficult for him because surviving outdoors when the ground is covered in muddy slush is a considerably difficult task.
Gregory found himself homeless the past summer and after being tossed around a couple temporary placements he was put with a family willing to feel out taking him in permanently. It’s bizarre to him that the family were the ones getting to see how living with Gregory would be instead of it being the other day around. It made him feel like he was some sort of product and they were getting a free trial.
The family ended up being dangerous, nothing he couldn’t handle of course because he managed to get out and get away. He knows how shitty the system is and he could survive on his own thank you very much.
Now he’s running through the slush, trying not to fall and ruin one of two outfits that he has. He was running from a group of angered teens that had it out for him. They were pissed that he had been sleeping on a bench in the skate park, their bench apparently.
He hoped that they would give up chasing soon and decide that he wasn’t worth their time. Luckily they didn’t actually have skateboards or roller blades, they just hung out at the skate park or something, he didn’t really think that sounded fun especially in the cold. They weren’t really gaining ground on him, he was fast and knew the city well, but they were close and he didn’t want to risk anything.
His clothes were torn and wind was stinging not only his face and hands but inside of his shirt as well, causing his whole torso to shake as he ran. The exertion didn’t warm him and he wasn’t looking forward to trying to get warm again after he got away, if he got away.
Up ahead he saw his opportunity, Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria. He’d walked past the restaurant before and they seemed to have a lot of kids come by, most likely due to the owners being good with kids and having things on hand to entertain them while they ate. He wouldn’t be out of place if he walked in, though it would put him at risk of being caught.
The sound of thundering footsteps behind him pushed him to make a decision and he swerved to the right into an alleyway. He weaved through a couple of streets trying to lose the guys behind buildings so he could be out of their sight for just a second. Then as he looped back around, the pizzeria coming back into view, he ducked into the restaurant and attempted to leveled his breathing so he didn’t draw attention to himself.
The rush of warm air soothed him and solved his problem of gaining back some heat. He glanced around to make sure the employees or owners weren’t anywhere near him, and when he was satisfied that he wasn’t being watched he took a seat at the bar next to a large family.
It’s not quite a bar; they don't seem to serve drinks, at least not during the day, and instead it looked to serve as more seating. He was just trying to blend in for a minute to catch his breath, and let those teens lose interest in him, then he would leave. The family next to him didn’t have any menu’s meaning they must have just ordered and he had a minute before the food got there, or they were about to receive menus and he had a bit before they ordered.
In any case he was just going to stay for a second, he didn’t have money to buy food for obvious reasons and staying too long would draw suspicion. His eyes trailed over the condiments sitting in a small bin on the counter. There was a bunch of little plastic cartons of jelly in front of him and he grabbed a handful, stacking them on the table.
It felt nice to take a minute and fool around with the cartons, he smiled as he built little houses and pyramids. He was stacking the jelly by color when he felt a light tap on his shoulder causing him to jolt and spin around. He peered up with his eyes wide at the man who had tapped him.
The guy was tall and broad, towering over Gregory who fought to avoid eye contact. His eyes instead landed on the man's hair which was highlighted by bright streaks of blue contrasting the brown.
“Are you alright kiddo?” The man’s voice sounded like honey, deep but sweet and sure. As Gregory finally met the guys eyes he quickly worked to make his face look less guilty, he’d gotten caught but if he played dumb maybe everything could work out fine.
After a moment of deliberation Gregory finally answered him, “I’m fine, I was just… looking.”
“At the jelly?” The man glanced over his shoulder at the tower Gregory was building, “Nice structure! Though it does look a little unstable, you should build a base so it won’t fall over.”
He sat slightly surprised by the man's lack of suspicion, or maybe just at his interest in Gregory’s dumb little creation. In response he just nodded tentatively, knocked off of his game. He expected the man to either ask him to leave or for them to fall into an awkward silence. He was instead surprised again by the man grinning and picking up Gregory’s end of whatever this conversation was.
“Would you like some help?” He gestured to the seat next to Gregory in question.
“Sure I guess, I wasn’t really trying to build anything good.”
“Well it seems that you did so anyways,” he sat himself down next to Gregory and got to work building a base to stabilize the little tower. “Is there any sort of system you were going with? It looks like it’s sorted by color but I felt I should ask.”
“Yeah, I was sorting it by color. Thanks?”
“No problem!”
They both built in silence after that and despite his confusion Gregory was finding himself starting to enjoy it. The tower took shape and eventually they had used all of the jelly cartons.
“Now this is a great tower, we did a good job huh?” Gregory was yet again put off by the man's demeanor and his face burned with embarrassment at the consistent praise. He gave a sheepish grin and nodded, unable to figure out how to respond. “Oh, I forgot to swap names with you, superstar! I’m Freddy Fazbear.”
He stared at the man's, Freddy’s, outstretched hand and considered his options. Freddy was the owner of the pizzeria, or at least had some part in it; his name was the name of the restaurant apparently. He opened his mouth to lie but was cut off by his stomach grumbling. He blushed again and pushed himself up.
“Thanks for the help but I really need to go,” He frantically tried to put all the jelly back but he ended up knocking the tower over and couldn’t manage to gather enough at once to make a dent in the pile.
“Are you hungry? We can fix that right here, I can get you some pizza real quick. But if you want to leave I can’t stop you, of course.”
“I don’t have any money, I can't buy food.” He quickly realized his mistake as Freddy made a sorry expression at his words. “I have money at home just not now I’m not out of money or something.” His words poured out like a broken tap as he raced himself to push the fabrication out.
Freddy gave him a soft smile, face dripping with pity, something that normally angered Gregory to no end. He always hated pity, how none of the care that came with it was genuine. It always caused people's actions to fall flat. But this man has been nice to him, his compliments seemed genuine and he’s spent time with Gregory, which is more than he could say for other adults.
“I can get you something anyways, on the house. I Don't want to leave any children with empty stomachs after all.” His tone was just as soft as his expression.
For the first time in a while Gregory felt inclined to say yes and accept help. It felt like a trick, like cps were on their way to drag him back to foster care, but he didn’t want to believe that. He wants so desperately for this to be an act of real compassion. He hasn’t had a warm meal in so long, only stale leftovers, granola bars, and even garbage.
He opens his mouth to decline when his stomach grumbles again and Freddy wilts, like a flower that hasn’t been watered in months. For some reason the reaction sent a pang of guilt through Gregory, so with a sigh he sat back in his stool.
“Okay. But not too much, I can’t risk getting put in debt just for some lunch.” He crosses his arms and gives Freddy a glare to show he means business, but Freddy just brightens at his answer.
“I’ll get you a slice of pizza, does pepperoni work?”
“Yeah that’s fine.”
Gregory watches Freddy leave intently, not risking letting his guard down again. A glance around the restaurant reveals that there aren’t any other owners around, he’d gotten lucky that the one that had found him was not only unreasonably nice but willing to give him food. At the thought his stomach groans again and he lowers his head with a sigh.
He needs this food.
It only takes a moment for Freddy to return and when he does he’s carrying a plate of a steaming piece of pizza and a cup of what looks like water.
“Here you are,” he sets both down in front of Gregory, “let me know if you want another slice or if you need anything else.” With a smile he excuses himself and heads over to chat up some other customers, because that’s his job. Gregory isn’t special, he's probably just charity work to this guy.
With that in mind he takes a bite of the pizza, the hot food burning his mouth immediately. He sucks in a breath and swallows quickly. He blows on the pizza lightly before taking another bite, this one reveals the taste. It’s so amazing it makes his eye’s water. He’s never had better pizza, and this isn’t just coming from his hunger.
He finishes the slice quickly and downs the glass of water. He doesn’t have time to savor it while he’s running the risk of getting kicked out. Again, he needs this food. Once he’s finished he throws himself to the floor and goes to leave. Just as he pulls the door open Freddy calls for his attention.
“Hey kiddo! How was the pizza?” Freddy grins down at Gregory as he struggles to answer.
“It was fine,” he finally manages to push out, “thank you.”
“No problem! I’m glad you have some food in your stomach. Are you headed home?” It’s an obvious and seemingly innocent question but it makes Gregory narrow his eyes in suspicion.
“Yep. Bye.” He resumes pulling the door open, trying to get out as fast as he can.
“You have a way to get home right?”
“Yeah I do, I really need to get home though my, uh, parents are expecting me.”
“Of course, I am sorry for keeping you. Come back any time for food okay? If you need something to eat I’ll give you more pizza, on the house.” Freddy winks as he says the last part but it looks forced, like he’s trying to steer the conversation to something more cheerful.
Gregory just nods and hurry's out of the Pizzeria, leaving Freddy standing at the door watching him go. Gregory rushes into an alleyway again and pulls himself up onto a fire escape. The rusty metal scratches his hands but he ignores it and leans over the railing. From here he can see the Pizzeria without being in sight of the front door.
He assumes that Freddy was trying to stall and call the cops on him. He was too nice to be doing it to be mean, but even if Freddy did have good intentions the cops would still have taken him back to the dangerous house. From here he can watch to see if Freddy really did call someone, anyone. If he didn't, Gregory could take him up on his offer one day, if he was in serious danger that is. If he did call someone then Gregory would steer clear of the Pizzeria forever.
He waited for hours, eventually sitting down on the cold metal. The buildings surrounding him stopped most of the wind which is nice. Gregory finally gives up on the watch once the sun begins to dip out of the sky. He climbs down now while he can still see and sneaks out of the ally. He finds his way to a different park, not wanting to encounter those teens again, and lays down on a bench. The wind is present here and no matter how much he curls in on himself he can’t seem to retain much body heat. He falls asleep shaking and with his eyes screwed shut.
Gregory ends up returning to the Pizzeria after only a week. It was getting harder and harder to find food because nobody was grilling anything he could steal in the cold, which was his main source of food before. To make matters worse stores had started putting up signs of him, effectively banning him from entering. He doesn't know who took the picture but it mocks him, being used on every poster.
The ban stops him from going into most stores, which he mostly did for the heat. Now he’s stuck outside and he can feel the effects setting in. His skin is chapped and ripped beyond belief. There is hardly a moment where his knuckles aren’t bleeding. His body has shivered so much he hardly notices the action despite how violent his shaking is.
So there he stands, cold and hungry, staring at the Pizzeria. It’s after the average dinner time but not late enough for people to be drinking. He figures it would be better to go in when there’s less people though that doesn’t mean anything because there’s no guarantee that Freddy is even here. Still, with a lack of other options, he heads in.
The bell jingles lightly, announcing his entrance. There’s a young couple eating near the stage and a guy with a toddler eating ice cream a couple tables over. Gregory heads over to the bar again, taking the same seat he did the other day. It’s only a moment before Freddy walks out of the back, but to Gregory it feels like a lifetime of sitting there fiddling with the hem of his shirt.
“You came back!” Freddy exclaims, leaning on the table. “Do you want another slice of pizza?”
“Yeah, if I’m allowed?”
“Of course! It will just be a moment.” Freddy walks off to the back again and quickly emerges carrying a plate and a cup just like last time.
Gregory gives him a smile that he hopes comes off as grateful, and starts eating his pizza. This time he blows on it first, having learnt his lesson. As he eats Freddy stays behind the counter watching him, which is super weird. Gregory tries to eat as normally as he possibly can so he doesn’t look like any more of a starving kid than he already does.
“It is very cold out, do you have a coat to wear?” Freddy asks, “You would not want to catch a cold.”
“I do, at home, but I’m fine.” Gregory responds with his mouth full.
“Alright, if you are sure.” There’s moment of silence as Freddy looks at Gregory skeptically. “What is your name? I just realized that you have not told me.”
“I’m not supposed to tell strangers my name.” Which is true, he’s not, but he wants Freddy to assume that it’s a rule from his ‘parents’ instead of a rule he gave himself.
“That is fair.” Freddy responds, sending them into silence again.
The pizzeria is warm but not hot, Gregory notices, like they set it to just the right temperature. There is light music drifting from the speakers and some jostling of pans can be heard from the kitchen. It’s peaceful, an atmosphere so different from the streets. Gregory wishes he could stay forever but that’s not possible.
Once he finishes Gregory pushes the plate slightly towards Freddy and jumps to the ground. “Thanks for the pizza. It was good.”
“I am glad you enjoyed it. You can always come back and get more, anytime you want.”
“Okay.”
This time Freddy doesn’t try to stop Gregory from leaving but he again stands dejected watching Gregory go. Gregory tries to ignore the feeling of Freddy stare as he rushes into the night. The wind whips at his clothes and pulls at his skin. There’s shouting from a couple streets over and cars honk their horns. He’s back in his world again and he would give anything to return to the pizzeria. He can’t get used to it, though, because it’s not safe. It will fall from his grasp just as he gets comfortable, that’s how the world works for kids like him.
He can’t go back.
Ever.