12 Years ago

Mangle skipped down the mossy-stone path towards the rose garden as her Mother and two maids followed closely behind her.
As they walk down the path in amongst the rows of lush-green hedges dotted with blooming white and red hydrangeas, the little girl spins and jumps her way onto each stone tile with pointed feet and wide smiles, her small white sundress blowing behind her in the summer breeze and arms curving ever so slightly just as a ballerina would do when performing. She closes her eyes and hums to herself daydreamingly about being one herself some day, dancing before crowds upon crowds of adoring cheers and standing ovations. Ava, her mother and the maids share a smile as she dances down the path. Her mother asks knowingly while her daughter laughs to herself, "What are you so happy about my darling?"

Mangle giggles and turns to face her mother, "Mummy, I want to be a dancer when I'm older!" She smiled jumping up and down with a wide grin. Her mother knelt down to her and smirked slightly at her daughter, "Is that so?"
Mangle saw the twinkle of excitement in her Mother's big icy-blue eyes, why wouldn't she be? Her daughter wanting to follow in her footsteps of the arts would mean the world to her. Being married to her husband in a world of business and commerce, she expected her children to be more like their Father; practical, hard working and determined. Of course Ava knew her son Marionette would share those same traits as he grew older, just as he shows them now even at the age of six. But even before Mangle had been born, Ava knew that she would act just as much as her Father as she did her Mother. She would be ambitious, always strive to be her best, but at the same time she would be just like herself; kind hearted, loving, caring, protective of the things she loves and most importantly a dreamer.

Ava scooped her up in her arms, spinning her around and pulled her into a soft embrace with a joyous grin, "Then you'll be the most amazing dancer in the world my little ballerina!"
Mangle's smile grew wider before letting out a giggle, wrapping her petite arms around her mother's shoulders.

"Don't you think that's rather inappropriate, Ava?" A voice hissed from behind them.
Ava turned around still holding her daughter in her arms and scowled at the figure standing beneath the rose trellis; her lovely sister-in-law.
Ballora.

Ballora's mere presence aggravated Ava, from her sly tone that constantly coated her snobbish voice which she chose to greet everyone with, to her violet-silver hair that was never not done up in the tightest bun she could manage, making her narrow facial features seem even more acute than they were.
She was horrible. The fact that this woman was the Aunt of her children and sister of her husband never ceased to infuriate her. The way she would look down upon them with a glare colder than the ice of her heart whenever she felt right, how she would always tell them how to act, how to eat, how to dress, how to behave and what was expected of them, that the family name Evans would some day rest on their shoulders, whether they chose to disgrace it or not, they would never be half as good as they would've been if their Father had only married a woman of 'intelligence' instead of 'looks'.
But she was mistaken, Roger Evans did not fall for his wife simply due to her looks, it was her heart that truly made him fall in love with her. That is something Ballora would never understand.

"-To be filling the child's mind with dreams that will simply never happen?"
Ava placed Mangle beside her, regaining her poise before walking closer towards Ballora with the straightest face she could muster, "What my daughter chooses to do in her future is none if your concern, Ballora."
The woman's face stiffened, narrowing her coal-black eyes onto Ava. Ballora's eyes matched the way she felt towards the world perfectly: dark and cold. The whites of her eyes contrasted sharply with the pitch black iris that sunk deep into her head. Its depth resembled that of a black hole in space, an air of eeriness and unsettling coldness emanating from her gaze.
"How you raise your children is my highest concern for you and this family, Ava. They will inherit the family business after all, which in my personal opinion should have been given much more thought."
Mangle looked up from her Mother's side to her Aunt's disapproving face, Ballora's posture straight and arms crossed firmly against her chest as her nose rose in the air. Ballora narrowed her eyes onto her unpromising Niece, "This child will bring nothing but shame, discredit, condemnation and degradation to the family name, our rep-"
With every word, the little girl could feel her heart breaking in half, as her eyes began to well up with tears, cupping her hands over them to hide her sadness, she couldn't help but wonder why her Auntie treated her this way, why she wasn't good enough for her?
Ava took another step forward to Ballora, a now clearly infuriated expression lay upon her face, "How dare you! Come into my home and insult my daughter, who the hell do you think you are?!" She shouted in her face, not being able to contain her anger any more. Ballora's eyes immediately widened as her pale cheeks heat up in ill-temperedness,
"How dare I? How dare you raise your voice at me, Ava! If it weren't for you and your two disappointing children, my daughter would one day become the successful business woman she deserves to be, unlike your incoherent bimbo of a-"

Mangle watched silently at her Mother and Aunt practically screaming at each other outside the rose gardens, until Ava put an end to it in a way herself nor her daughter would ever think she would allow herself do to Aunt Ballora, no matter how cruel she was.
Ava had struck her hand across the woman's face, leaving the both of them in silence and a red mark upon one side of her face. The sound of heavy aggravated breathing coming from Ballora's mouth was the only thing to be heard, aside from a small gasp coming from each of the maids and Mangle. Ava's jaw was clenched together tightly, her eyebrows furrowed onto Ballora who was now clutching her face with her hand and looking at the ground with what Mangle could only guess was a look of shock.
"Y-You..-" Ballora had started, slowly raising her head upwards to face Ava, but she was interrupted once again, not with a slap, but with a command;
"Get out. I never want you near my family again." She had said in a grim tone, pointing to the large entrance gate to the house.
Ballora said nothing, she simply breathed in sharply and walking away with clenched fists, now knowing what would happen if she were to push Ava again.

Mangle's POV

"N-No.." I started shaking my head, looking down at the marble kitchen tiles in disbelief of my Father.

What the hell was going through his mind when he thought of this idea?
Maybe when I was younger I didn't quite understand why Mom hated our Aunt so much, but it's clear now.
That woman despised me and Mari simply for being born!
Just because that meant her fucking daughter, Fiona or whatever, wouldn't inherit Dad and her's money and the businesses. She hated my Mother because she thinks that she completely ruined Dad's career before it had begun..And he expected Ballora to now to look after us?
I don't think so.

"Mangle-" He began, his face dropping after seeing mine and Mari's furious reactions,
"NO!" I shouted lifting my head back up quickly, "That..That..Witch! Is not staying here! Do you even remember how badly she treated Mom? Your wife? And your children?"
I yelled with my hands now quickly balling into fists by my sides.
Over the past couple weeks, the only emotion I've been capable of is..Sadness. Depression. The only outbursts of emotion I've had is that of tears and disconsolation, but this built up anger is just pouring out everywhere faster than my tears could pour from my eyes..And I'm not holding anything back from my Father, he needs to know exactly why inviting our complete and utter bitch of an Aunt to stay with us is a bad idea.
"Mangle, I remember how your Mother and Ballora felt about-" He started with a soft tone, trying to soothe the large raging storm of anger going on inside my mind, but I wasn't budging.

It could've been anyone.
He has the money.
He couldn't have just hired the best baby sitter in the state to help him get into the swing of being a Father again, or a life coach or..anything! Anything would be better than her.

"No! You clearly don't know! If you did, you wouldn't be wanting her to come help!"
"She's right, Dad. Aunt Ballora was nothing but fucking cruel to us, and to Mom. Inviting her to come stay with us is like breaking a promise to your wife, our Mother, and you can't do that." Marionette stepped in with his lowered brows and even lower voice.
His tone always went low when he was angry, it has done since he was little..

Jeez, what's with all these trips down memory lane all of a sudden?

Dad paused for a few moments before running his fingers through his dark black hair letting out a long exhale,
"I know..I know how spiteful my sister is, believe me I grew up with it..But you're willing to give me a second chance to be a Dad, right? Just give her one last chance, please. Other than her daughter and your cousin, Fiona, she's the only family we have left."
Me and Mari shared a look after seeing his desperate expression, it was a look of tiredness and wanting to make things right, a look that I wanted so deeply to make me want to agree, but I just couldn't. My Mother stuck up for me when Aunt Ballora made me feel bad about myself for just being..Well, myself. She'd always say how proud her and Papa were of me, even after being constantly told I would never be good enough by my Aunt, she somehow made me feel like I was enough. I will defend her like she defended me. I know that no matter what happens, Ballora won't change. Nothing Dad, me, or anyone says or does will change how she feels about us. What she wants is what we have, and she will never have our money or the bond we have between us all, that only leaves room for her to dislike us. It's plain and simple.
"W-We'll think about it, Dad. It's a lot to take in." Marionette sighed looking up at our Father, giving him a sense of hopefulness. They both turned to me, expecting an answer. I looked from Mari to Dad, my eyes slowly narrowing with furrowed eyebrows,
"I don't want her here." I said shaking my head, running out of the kitchen as fast as I could and up the long fleet of stairs to my room, making sure to slam the door behind me.

What were they expecting?
'Oh hey Aunt Ballora! It's so nice to see you! Oh, no it's okay, we totally forgive you after you reduced us to tears on countless occasions, made us feel like shit, and hey! Let's not even mention how you treated our deceased Mother. Nope, it's all water under the bridge!'
Water under the bridge my ass..

I grabbed a pillow off my bed and screamed into it, attempting to blow off some steam, which was probably enough steam to power a sauna..
Since that wasn't working, there was only one thing to do..
I went to my vanity and grabbed a pot of makeup brushes, stomping into the en-suite bathroom and pushing back the hot tap to full power.
"Stupid Ballora..Stupid fucking Aunt Ballora.." I mumbled, spraying a good twenty squirts of soap onto each brush at a time then frustratedly rubbing away all the excess make up residing inside it.
I heard a knock on the bedroom door outside the bathroom, not bothering to turn off the tap, I simply shouted out, "If it's Mari or Dad, then go the hell away!"
I continued mumbling curses under my breath and rubbing my brushes just as a boxer would take out their emotions on a punching bag, stopping as I felt a pair of strong arms wrap around my waist carefully and a chin resting on my shoulder. The smell of a very specific deodorant corrected my suspicions of them both belonging to Foxy.
"Ah jeez, Aunt Ballora must've been a pretty big jerk." He chuckled into my ear, a chuckle that I tried hard not to smile at, but still managed to send shivers down my spine. "What brings you to that assumption?" I said as blankly as I could, frustration detectable in my face as I continued to scrub the numerous brushes. "Easy; you only wash your make up brushes when you're extremely pissed off." He laughed, reaching over to the tap to switch it off, turning me round to face him as I leant on the sink counter.
"You know me too well.." I sighed looking down at the ground with a still saddened expression but small smile on my lips. His arms moved slowly up mine and reached my shoulders, using one hand to lift my chin up to face him as he read the details and emotions in my face like an open book,
"..She's that bad, huh?" Foxy said with a soft voice and frown, his bright green-golden eyes staring right through mine which was basically his way of figuring out my mood, a skill he's somehow acquired over the months we've been dating.
"When I say You, my friends, Marionette and my Father are the only proper family I have left, I mean it. Ballora isn't my family, we're just somehow related." I said quietly, the remains of anger and upset still easily perceptible in my voice, my eyes not leaving his. His frown was suddenly replaced with that classic Foxy-smile that made my heart flutter every time without fail,
"Then screw frickin' Ballora, you don't need to let her get to you when you have me and everyone else right here, Mang."
"I know Foxy, it's just-"
Once again, he was able to read my mind better than anyone else, the corners of his mouth pulling into a smirk, "You don't want to see her face everyday? Then just come stay over mine sometimes, my Mother loves having you over and Champ sure misses you."
I smiled widely before pausing,
"Well, I mean, I don't want to let down Champ. And your Mother is just so sweet." I giggled teasingly to Foxy, making his smirk grow as he pulled me closer to him, "Really? Those are the only reasons?"
I pouted my lips and tapped my chin jokingly to annoy him, "Hmm.."
With every second longer I took to answer him, his frown only became more prominent on his face. Foxy's eyebrows began to slant and his eyes started to go all droopy like a hurt little puppy-dog.
I giggled and looked down with a small blush on my face, wrapping my arms around the tops of his shoulders with a smile, "Well I might as well stay with my amazingly loving, caring, perfect, hot and goofball of a boyfriend maybe once or twice, it couldn't hurt." I sighed. His frown quickly turned upside down and into a big cheesy grin as he kissed my face all over with wet-slobbery kisses. "Fox-yyy!" I groaned letting out a few laughs and turned my cheek slightly, not making one bit of difference as he continued smothering me.
"S-Stop! Your stubble is tickling me damn it!" I said between giggles as his chin and jawline of facial hair rubbed against my face. Foxy chuckled before pulling away,
"Okay, okay..Should I get rid of it?" He said bringing a hand under his jaw like a Calvin Klein model and a smirk on his face.
Damn..
I shook my head quickly and tried to ignore the pink blush on my face with a smile,
"Nooo, I like it! It makes you look handsome..r." I said, a smile appearing on his face,
"Alright, if you like it that much, babe.."
I rolled my eyes at him and opened my mouth to try and come up with an equally as sarcastic response but before I knew it his lips had crashed onto mine which shut me up right away. My eyes widened in surprise but as soon as he cupped the side of my face I immediately sank into the kiss and shut my eyes, kissing him back with the same amount of passion. As I ran my fingers  through his dark crimson hair, he lifted me up gently by my thighs and placed me on the counter behind us. I smirked through the kiss and pressed his head closer to mine with my palm resting on the back of his head. Just as Foxy deepened the kiss, snaking his tongue into my mouth and me doing the same to him, I wrapped one leg slightly around his side and the other draped against his thigh.

With all the crap that's been going on lately, me and Foxy haven't really been able to do normal couple-stuff. Like going on dates, seeing eachother at school, watching movies together or even texting eachother..With me recovering and going to therapy and all that, it's been pretty boring..But Foxy's been so patient with me. I meant it when I said he was loving and caring and..Perfect. Because he is, and he treats me so amazingly, I can't really describe in words how happy he makes me, or how lucky I am to have him, or how incredibly shit my life would be without him.

The sound of the bathroom door opening immediately caught both our attention as we whipped our heads round to see who it was with bright blushes on both our faces. Marionette stood in the doorway with an agape mouth, blinking his eyes a couple times in surprise at the two of us. I growled under my breath in annoyance, "Ever head of knocking?"
He cleared his throat and put his hands up in defeat, looking down at the white marble tiles beneath him, "Uhh..S-Sorry for..Interrupting."

Okay, didn't see that coming. I shared a look with Foxy who raised his brow at Mari, half expecting to at least get some verbal abuse from his girlfriend's older brother after he caught them making out in the bathroom.
Well, my bathroom. Still, guess I'm not complaining about him being weirdly..relaxed.

"W-Whatever I g-guess..Uh, what's up?" I stuttered as Foxy straightened his posture slightly and moved to the side, allowing me to jump down from the counter. I ran my fingers through my hair in embarrassment, looking up at him inquisitively.
"Dad was wondering if Foxy wanted to stay for dinner?" Mari said with the blankest face he could muster before clearing his throat, but it was obvious how awkward the three of us all felt right now. I turned to Foxy with pleading eyes and a frown, his eyes darted from me to Mari before replying, "Uh, yeah, sure!" He said with a nervous smile and rubbing the back of his neck. I smiled to him thankfully,
I was definitely not looking forward for dinner with Marionette and my Dad after tonight..

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Why does Mari always have to be the one to interrupt the Fangle moments
(￣3￣)

SCREW YOU MARI

Anyway I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, please leave a vote and comment if you did I'd really reallyyyy appreciate it
Ly guys!! ❤❤❤