Unique Ways.
This one is for @villain-friend, who has been waiting so patiently along with a few others...I’m so sorry I don’t have more to post right this moment. Prompts are from the Winter prompt list numbers 129. “We’re not going to spend the holidays alone and sad. i won’t allow that!” and 135. “I know that people usually kiss under mistletoe but.. I had other things planned.” Anti was requested for this story and so I present to you all, and especially to Villain-Friend; Unique Ways.
(Cats have nothing to do with the story. I just liked this gif.)
"We're not going to spend the holidays alone and sad. I won't allow that!" Jacob had promised you not more than two weeks ago, but now you sit in your half empty apartment, with festive lights twinkling, and tears running down your cheeks. You curse Jacob's name, shouting to the heavens and whatever God or Goddess that'll listen to your sorrows. You hate how much time and effort and dreams you'd put into your relationship with Jacob; only to find out he's been unfaithful and two faced nearly your whole relationship. "Two fucking years down the goddamn drain!" you scream grabbing the pillow next to you and shove it against your face. You scream into the pillow, praying it'll muffle your cries of agony. Flopping forward on your bed you feel like kicking your feet up and down, smashing your fists into the mattress, but you refrain from doing so. You're bigger than that. You think..."I hate you so much! I hate you! I hate you!" You cry over and over and over again. You don't hate a lot of things, but you hate Jacob and his cheating ways. Your friends, and even your family had asked if you'd seen any kind of sign that Jacob had been seeing another woman--sorry, two other women, but you hadn't. You'd been to busy focusing on your job and paying for the Christmas gift of a lifetime; a three week all expenses paid for. You'd been planning on letting him know on Christmas day. Not anymore, you think bitterly. Rolling onto your back you notice a photo that you hadn't smashed just yet and sit up, the room spinning a little before settling. You stand up and grab the photo off the shelf and take it to the living room, removing the actual photograph and set the undisturbed frame on the coffee table. You pass into the kitchen and pull out a large kitchen knife and cutting board. You're pissed off and ready to slice up the photo, but you don't want to ruin your new counter tops. Laying the photograph on the cutting board face up, you aim your knife and jab it into the photo narrowly missing Jacob's face. You stab at the photo a few more times oblivious to your front door opening with the spare key you'd given Anti a few months back. Jacob had always accused you of cheating with Anti, going as far as to demand you cut all ties to your green clothed neighbor. You hadn't fallen for that dilemma. You'd straight out refused to play into that kind of thinking, shooting back that if you had to give up Anti then Jacob had to give up his friend Kayla. Jacob had refused and the subject had been dropped, then low and behold, two weeks later it comes out he's been seeing Kayla in a romantic nature. Screaming angrily you stab the knife directly into Jacob's chest. Despite your current actions you do not want Jacob to die. Part of you still loves and cares for his stupid cheating ass. "Feel better?" Anti asks as you swing around, the knife still in your hand. Upon seeing Anti the knife in your hands seems to just drop. It feels like you're being caught doing something heinous and unforgivable. Anti chuckles and kneels down, picking up the knife, then sets it on the counter. You feel your face heat up and look away from Anti in shame. "Wow... you have bad aim." Anti tells you, chuckling a little as he looks at the chopped up photo. You chew the inside of your lip, keeping your gaze away from Anti."Now's not the best of time, Anti." you tell him unintentionally wrapping your arms around your waist. "When is it after a nasty break up?" Anti asks sitting on your counter top. "I heard you screamin' and cryin', thought I'd come over and see if you need a shoulder to cry on." Anti adds smiling at you. You've always enjoyed Anti's odd sense of humor and his ability to cheer you up in the worst of times. You glance up at Anti. He's the last person you'd expect to judge you and yet you're worried he'd think less of you."I got throwing knives I can teach ya to use. We can find one of his profile photos and blow it up and use it for target practice." he adds with a chuckle you find endearing. You shake your head, trying not to laugh at him. As ridiculous as his suggestions are, you know he's being serious. Anti loves his knives and loves to try and get you to join in on his shenanigans. "Anti, please. I'm trying to...""Look, I get it. The slimy bastard broke yer heart and ya want revenge. How about teaming up and we'll go make his day a living hell?" Anti asks pouring his Irish accent on thick. You both know you'll agree to just about anything he says with that thick accent. You don't know what it is about his Irish accent but it makes you want to agree to just about anything; but... on the other hand, making Jacob's life a living hell, even for a day sounds amazing at this point. You do need something to lift your spirits. "What have you got in mind?" you ask sniffling as you wipe your eyes. Anti gives you that mischievous smile that makes you weak in the knees and hops down from the counter top. He doesn't say anything, simply grabs your hand and drags you out of your apartment, snatching up your shoes on the way out. Wrapped up in Anti jacket you find yourself standing outside Kayla's duplex as Anti pulls out a few bags from his trunk. Something about this whole situation tells you that Anti had this all planned out. You raise a brow, huddling into the oversized jacket, watching Anti set three bags filled with cylinder canisters. You hold your hand out when he lifts one out to you. You take the canister and look at the label and burst into laughter. "Are you serious?" you ask in the dying sun light. Anti stands up, both hands fisting a can of silly string, his arms shaking up the mixture inside the cans. He gives you the same mischievous smile and walks over to the duplex and begins to spray the cans with a pop of the lids. You laugh, but follow his lead. Anti is such a bad influence on you, but right now it doesn't matter. Anti wrote poorly executed crude words while you drew poorly shaped penises on the windows. You both laughed and traded off cans and when the lights flicked on quickly threw everything you could grab into the bags and bolted to Anti's car parked a few cars down the road. You could hear Jacob shouting, Kayla screaming after you as you both jumped into the vehicle and drove away in record time. It's at the stop light that you both glance at each other and burst into laughter, you're unable to believe you just vandalized Kayla's house with crudely drawn dicks and profanity. You'd always thought you'd be above needing revenge, but damn it feels good to get back at the cheating bastard. You turn up the heat in the car and hold your frozen finger to the vents to thaw them out again. Okay, so you didn't make his life, or even his day a living hell, but you got to blow of steam and create a mess that Jacob will have to clean up. In the freezing cold, and that's just as good. Plus, it's less punishable in the court of law. "You hungry?" Anti asks glancing at you as your rub your hands together then hold them in front of the vents again. Your cheeks are dusted a rose red color, your nose matching that of Rudolph's. "Starved. If we go back to the apartments I can whip up something hot and delicious." You say smiling at Anti. You've always admired his ability to be so free and uncaring of what others thing. He makes you feel like you can be like that too, to be happy. "Home cookin? I'm game." Anti tells you giving you a lopsided smile. You feel butterflies in your stomach. Anti's always had that effect on you, but you'd never given it much thought. You'd always remained faithful to Jacob...mostly. It doesn't count if you're asleep and dreaming, but damn if those dreams hadn't felt so real.Entering your apartment you slip your shoes off and head into your kitchen knowing Anti would remove his shoes too. Slipping out of the jacket Anti had let you borrow while out being deviants you turn slightly and toss it too him, letting him hand it up on the coat rack without having to ask. "Spaghetti and meatballs sound good?" you ask opening your ice box to pull out the pre-made meatballs you'd done a few days ago. Anti nods as he unravels the scarf you'd crocheted him at the beginning of the winter season. "Are you going to make those garlic mashed potatoes?" Anti asks taking a seat on the bar stool rather than your counter tops.You nod your head. "You wanna peel the potatoes for me?" you ask opening your pantry door and retrieve the 10 lbs bag of potatoes. Anti give you a look that says he's not amused but takes the bag none the less. You hand him a small paring knife and he sets to work. A comfortable silence falls over the pair of you as you work to get dinner done. Leaning back in his chair Anti pats his now full stomach and sighs happily. "Delicious. Can I hire you to be my personal chief?" Anti asks smirking at you. You roll your eyes at his question and stand up taking the plates with you. "You couldn't afford my services, Anti." You tease scrapping the leftovers into the trash and set the plates in the soapy water you'd mixed earlier. Anti laughs, his chair sliding across the linoleum as he stands up, stretching his back out. "Not to be that guy, but how are ya feelin?" Anti asks resting his upper half on your breakfast bar. You glance at him from the corner of your eye and shrug."Better, but it's still hurting. I just... what did I do wrong?" you ask softly. You set down the plate into the water and place the sponge in your hand on the counter top. "That's what I can't understand. I'm a faithful person, I never told him that he wasn't good enough, or nitpicked at things that irritated me. I encouraged him to talk to me when something upset him. I tried to compromise where it was needed, but I told him I wouldn't drop friends just because he didn't like them. I never asked him to stop being friends with people I didn't like." You continue as you look down at your hands. You never raised your voice, you rarely fought, opting out to find a resolution rather than leaving things unsaid..."It wan't anything you did. It was all him." Anti says not looking at you. "He wanted everything to be the way he wanted it, but you're just too good at sticking to your guns. He'd told me a few times that he didn't want me around you, once even said you'd told him you wouldn't see me again, but I didn't trust him. If I said anythin' he'd probably spin it to say I'm jealous of 'im and you." Anti tells you earning a confused and slightly appalled look that Jacob would go so far as to tell your friend you didn't' want to see him anymore. You frown. What had you seen in Jacob? A pretty face? Sweet words? A mixture of a multitude of things? "I told him I would never stop being friends with you because he felt insecure. I even told him if he wanted me to stop being friends with you, that he'd have to stop being friends with Kayla. It told him it was unfair to expect me to conform to his wants and needs without some kind of equal sacrifice in return. Declined and then... 'I've been seeing Kayla since we got together.' Fucking bastard." You tell Anti, clenching your fists at the memory. "I wasn't being serious! I'd never seriously ask anyone, much less the man I'm dating to drop anyone he finds important in his life. All I wanted to do was show him how rude and stupid his request was." you say feeling tears well up in your eyes again. "Hey, you're a strong woman, if he couldn't see that, then he's an idiot, a wanker that don't know a good thing when it's standing in front of him." Anti tells you, earning a small, sad smile from you. "Thanks, Anti." you whisper. "Go sit down on the couch, I'll be over in a few. Some of my pots still have to soak for a bit before I can clean them." You say turning back to your dishes and clean the dishes you can before rising your hands and dry them before heading over to the couch. Anti smirks as he meets you at the small arch way leading into the living room. Despite having an open concept there are a few arch ways in your apartment. You rise a brow at his smirk and follow the finger he's pointed to the ceiling. Tilting your head slightly you see what he's looking at. "Mistletoe?" you question not remembering putting up, or even noticing mistletoe hanging from the arch way. "When did...Anti, did you put that up?" you ask accusingly as you look at Anti's smug face."I know that people usually kiss under mistletoe but.. I had other things planned." Anti tells you. Like a deer in the headlights you stand still, staring up at Anti with slight confusion. There's always been a mutual attraction, but..."Anti, I...are you sure..." you can't get the words out."Don't think I'm gonna let some other idiot try to sweep you of yer feet. It's my turn. I ain't gonna make you forget about him, but I'm sure as hell gonna try." Anti tells you wrapping his arm around your waist and pulls you flush against his profile. "Let me make you feel better." Anti's always had a unique way to cheer you up. One you'll always be thankful for.
