“God could you be any more of a deadbeat?! Now you’re just expecting your new girlfriend to “magically” cure you?!”
“Stacy, l-leave [y/n] out of this..a-and stop yelling-”
“You need to stop trying to let other people solve your problems for you, Chase! For God’s sake I thought you were over your drinking problem!”
Your heart ached as you saw Chase standing there with a beet-red face, along with tears threatening to spill from his eyes. But despite his ex-wife’s constant belittling, he was trying his best to reason with her and defend you.
However, it was easy to tell that he was quickly losing the argument.Â
“Here’s a suggestion..why don’tcha piss the fuck off and leave my brother alone?!!”
Stacy turned to see Anti’s eyes flicker to black, a menacing scowl on his face as he drew his knife. “Don’t make me tell ya twice..”
“…you don’t scare me anymore, Anti. So that’s not gonna work.”
The demon blinked in surprise, before his gaze shifted to Chase, asking him a silent question. But when he shook his head, he huffed in annoyance and put his knife away. Then he left the room, trying to figure out how else he could convince Stacy to leave and let Chase see his kids more often.
As he rounded the corner, Anti stopped and smiled, chuckling softly to himself as he disappeared in a cloud of glitches.
He knew just what to do.
Back in the living room, Chase’s eye began to twitch several times, so he quickly rubbed it, whimpering as the suppressed tears finally fell down his cheeks. “I-I’m sorry, Stacy..I-I..I’m trying my best. I’m trying so hard everyday-”
“Don’t play that “crybaby card”, Chase. I’m sure you’ve manipulated a lot of people with those sympathy tears. At my new boyfriend isn’t as wimpy and…..”
But Stacy trailed off when she noticed Chase twitch a little, before he closed both of his eyes. Once he opened them you noticed tiny flecks of glitches in his irises, although they quickly vanished as he glowered at her.
“Were you going to say “pathetic”? Hah.” He scoffed in a cold tone of voice that shocked both her and the egos. “You know..I don’t need your shitting on my emotions when my goddamn depression is already bad enough! It’s 2018. Get that toxic masculinity bullshit outta here, okay?! I’m not using [y/n] to “cure” me or anything like that, so put that out of your mind, too! At least she’s been more loving, caring, and supportive of all of my progress more than you ever will be!!!”
“…Ch-Chase..” Stacy mumbled in disbelief. “I-”
“You’ve talked plenty of times so you listen to me now,” Chase spat. “You’re gonna go home and let me see the kids Friday to Monday from here on out, or else…”
“Or else what?”
“I’ll call the cops on you and tell them you’ve been preventing me from seeing my kids even though I’ve maintained a clean criminal record and my doctor,” he gestured to Henrik, “states that I am mentally well enough. And if we have to take this to the courts….so be it. You’re looking at a LOT of witnesses if you haven’t noticed, so we’ll see how that plays out.”
Once Chase finished, a heavy silence hung over the room. Stacy’s jaw dropped slightly in shock for a moment or two. But then she closed her mouth and sighed, running a hand through her brown hair. “You know what? Fine…alright.” She huffed. “You can see them…Friday to Monday. But you better take care of your damn drinking problem. And if I hear you’ve been drinking around them-”
“I won’t.”
“…okay. I guess I’ll be going now…see you around.” With that, Stacy finally turned and went out the front door.
As soon as it shut, Chase blinked and stumbled back in a daze as Anti glitched out of his body. He groaned softly, and you put an arm around him, bringing him over to the sofa where you both sat.
You’re welcome,” Anti told him. “You can yell at me for possessing ya if ya want but…I just couldn’t stand by and let that bitch tear ya down. She doesn’t even know half of what you’ve been through.”
Chase looked at the demon, smiling shakily, although it dissolved as he started to sob. Then he hugged him tightly, burying his face into his older brother’s shoulder and thanking him over and over.
“…ah fuck..th-that was supposed to make ya stop cryin’.” Anti sighed heavily, but he did return the embrace, before his gaze shifted to you, obviously in need of help.
You smiled and hugged Chase’s waist, pressing a kiss to his scarred temple. “I don’t think she’ll bother you for a while, baby.”
He sniffled and turned his head to you so he could press a kiss to your lips. “Th-Thank you guys. I..I-I don’t know what I’d do without a-any of you.”
You and Anti simply smiled, keeping him sandwiched between the two of you until he had calmed down.
For once in his life, the demon was happy that he did a good deed.