Chase was in his old room sitting on the edge of the bed. It was early but he didn't mind. He was already clothed, having showered the night before. Thoughts were a little hazy to him at the moment but he had a memory he kept going back to.

In his hand, he held a small picture that he always kept in his wallet. He flipped it back and forth with his fingers in one hand and he held his flask in the other. He knew it was way too early to start drinking but he didn't care. He never did.

Today was the anniversary of when he moved out two years ago.

He self-consciously touched the scar on his stomach, trailing a finger up and down the tissue. 

Chase really didn't know why he came back. Why come back after what he did to him? It made no sense, really.

Because he really didn't just come for Anti. He felt bad for that part but it was true. He returned for a different reason that not even Jameson knew about.

He flipped the picture in his hand again and smiled sadly.

'Haven't seen them in so long.' he thought, 'They're turning six in a couple days. . . .  but she-'

Chase felt a small flicker of hate swell inside of him but as soon as it appeared, he forced it away. No, he couldn't fault her for taking them away. It needed to happen. Clearly Chase wasn't okay mentally and it was for the safety of the kids. 

'But now she came back into town' he bit his lip anxiously.

He had been following her on social media for a while incognito and he knew it was a creepy thing to do but it was the only way he'd ever find out how his kids were doing.

After what he did.

Chase took another swig of the dangerous liquid.

He remembered how all the problems with his marriage started and at first he blamed everyone but himself. He blamed Anti most of all after what happened at that party. That was the beginning of it all.

But he knew none of his marriage problems had nothing to do with the glitch no matter how many times he wished it did. Things would be easier then, for him. It'd be so much easier to blame it all on someone else.

Chase suddenly felt a smile creep on his face but it wasn't out of happiness. It was more of an ironic smile.

'I have to see them again.  . . . just one more time. . . . she's leaving again soon with them'

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It seemed as though Anti was finally getting better. It had been about a month since the void incident but he was recovering nicely. He kept the nightlight on all the time but there was nothing wrong with that as long as he was less afraid of the dark.

Sean couldn't stop thinking about Anti, honestly. 

The glitch had his faults but he was finally starting to see the good in him. Not just the trouble-making asshole but also as the misunderstood 'baby brother' of the group and really he was. Anti could boast and hiss all he wanted but he was just as soft as the rest of them. Of course he'd never admit it but Sean could see it now.

That's why he had a little surprise in the car with him as he drove on his way to the Septic house. He knew Anti would adore the visit and he was hoping he'd get to see the glitch smile today.

As Sean parked in the driveway, he picked up the crate and walked up to the door with it.

Meanwhile, Chase was in the living room now and heard the knock on the door. Lazily, he pulled himself up, wobbling just a little to go answer it as Jameson watched him curiously.

The mute knew something was off with him today but didn't want to bring it up in case it made Chase angry. As soon as he opened the door, Sean knew though and his own smile faltered, "Oh. . . . hey. Hey Chase. The others home, too?"

Chase huffed but nodded, "Well yeah. Their house. Why wouldn't they be?"

"Okay. . . Can I come in?"

It took Chase a minute to comprehend what he said but he caught it and walked away, leaving Sean to come on in himself.

Walking in, Sean saw Jameson and practically sprinted to him, "Why is he drunk? Where's the others?" he whispered to him.

Jameson shrugged and signed, 'Schneep is at work. Jackie is out. Marvin and Anti are in their rooms.'

Sean nodded but grimaced as Chase nearly fell over himself. He rolled his eyes and motioned for Jameson to come with him, "Let's go to Marvin. I'd rather Chase be sober while he's here. Why didn't you tell him to stop?"

Jameson rolled  his eyes, 'And what would I say? There's nothing I can do to make him stop, Sean'

Sean sighed, "I guess you're right. We'll get Marvin to sober him up and talk to him first. Then we can get Anti out of his room. I brought a surprise and I'm sure Marvin will like it, too"

Jameson finally saw the crate in his hand and clapped his hands excitedly, 'Is that?-'

"Yep! It sure it!" they got to Marvin's door and knocked a few times.

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Anti yawned as he laid in his bed only half listening to a weird YouTube video with Mark and his friend, Ethan in it. He tossed the knife he kept under his pillow up and down. He'd fling it close up to the ceiling and then catch it as it came down. This would normally freak anyone else out but Anti was VERY good with knives and felt no reason to be afraid of them. Even if he pricked himself or accidentally spilled his own blood, it wouldn't deter him because those things could be fixed.

Healed.

"Hey give that back, motherfucker!!"

Anti flinched at the sudden shout and shot up, catching the knife coolly in his hand before swinging his body over the side of the bed.

"I don't give a fuck! Don't you touch me!"

'That's Chase's voice. What's going on?'

"Fucking hell, Chase! Marvin! Do it!"

'And Sean's here? The hell?'

There was a sound of struggling downstairs and then silence. Normally he wouldn't be too worried about it but he was curious. Jumping off the bed, Anti made his way downstairs quietly so no one could here him coming. He peered along the side of the doorway and it all became clear.

Sean was on the floor holding Chase down with a silver flask a little ways away, liquid running out of it. Chase's hair was tussled and he looked like he hadn't showered in a few days. He snarled at Sean, shoving him off of him.

"The fook was that for, man!?"

Marvin put away his wand but still looked on guard.

Sean shoved Chase back as they got to their feet, "You were piss-ass drunk, ya dumbass, what do you think?!"

"So?! I wasn't bothering nobody!"

"That doesn't matter, Chase! That shit can't happen around here anymore, and you know it!"

"Ah fuck off" he went to bend down and pick up the flask but Sean spun him around and gripped his arm tight.

"Are you serious? What if Anti saw you? What if you said something you'd regret? Don't be stupid!"

Chase broke out of his grasp and glared daggers at him, "The fuck do I care? I wouldn't regret anything I say to him one bit and you know why? He'd deserve it"

'Chase, please' Jameson tried stopping him.

"Shove off, Jameson!" Chase scoffed, "Are you guys forgetting what that little bastard did?! What he's capable of!? Wh-what? You think I really came back for HIM!?" he had the nerve to laugh.

Anti felt a something like a stone in his heart weighing down his body. So he was right. Chase didn't come for him after all.

"If Jackie was here right now, he'd beat you for saying that" Sean hissed, "Anti's changed and you know it"

"HE'S KILLED PEOPLE!"

"And so have you" Marvin stated calmly, "Or have you forgotten?"

Chase halted and shuddered, remembering it, "No, I remember. But at least I regret it. You think that little monster does? Did you all forget what he did to ME!? All because I tried to get to know him better and actually tried to TALK to him and he FUCKING STABBED ME THE NEXT DAY!!"

"Chase stop, you're just upset because-"

"You think I don't mean what I say?"

"I think you're not in the right state of mind. If you really hate Anti then have you been staying by his side nearly every night as he sleeps? Why treat him like you would your OWN SON and convince US to let him stay to begin with!?"

Chase was about to say something but stopped. His eyes darted to see Anti at the door.

"A-anti" 

The glitch didn't even realize he had a few tears running down his face, listening to Chase's every word. What he REALLY thought about him.

But he couldn't even speak right now. He would think of a quick jibe to hit him with but Anti's mind was blank. He saw Chase's instant regret but he didn't care. The others turned to see Anti as well and they all looked fearful.

Of what? Did they listen to Chase? Did they suddenly go to his side? Or was it pity again?

Swallowing anxiously, Anti turned and ran, glitching fast to his room, ignoring Sean shouting for him. He locked his door and went to the other side of his bed on the floor, hugging his knees to his chest. He vigorously wiped away the tears, willing them away but they just wouldn't stop.

'This whole month' Anti shuddered at the thought, 'It was all a lie from him. What he said to me that it was for family. . . it was all a lie.'

A few minutes later, there was a knock on his door but Anti didn't feel like having company at the moment, "̴F̴O̵O̷K̴ ̶O̷F̶F̸!̶ ̴L̶E̸A̶V̶E̵ ̶M̶E̴ ̸A̶L̵O̶N̸E̵!̸"̵

"Anti" it was Sean's voice, "Please let me in.  . . . I came here for you today.. . .  And then Chase's shit happened. Come on, brat" he sighed.

Hearing the sincerity in his voice, Anti grumbled but forced himself up to go back to the door. He cracked it open, "Why'd you come then? What do you w̵a̸n̷t̸?̵"

"Let me in? I brought a surprise for you today. Might make you feel better" he smiled and lifted the crate in his hand a bit.

Anti opened the door to see the crate better and suddenly could hear purring from inside of it. He excitedly looked up at Sean and opened the door for him to come in. They closed the door behind them and Sean went to Anti's bed to set the crate down.

Anti bounced a little on his heels, "Is that really? Did you really bring him?"

Sean smiled as he opened the crate and BB popped his head out, swinging his tail around. He wasn't happy at all to have been cooped up in the crate for so long.

"Big Boss!" Anti jumped on the bed with him and at first the cat was weary of him but after a few sniffs, he nuzzled his face lovingly.

"Aww!" Anti cooed but once he did, he glared up at Sean, "Not a ̶f̸o̸o̷k̷i̸n̴g̵ ̴word to anybody or I'll actually kill you"

Sean lifted his hands defensively, "Hey man, no worries. I brought him over for you. Thought you could use a friend right now. Plus I know how much you love cats. Don't worry. I won't tell Marvin"

Anti laid on his stomach petting the cat and giving him love. Sean sat on the bed with him and watched with a soft smile. BB purred loudly in delight at the attention and even licked Anti's fingers a few times, making the glitch grin and giggle quietly. 

"I'm surprised Gab let you bring him"

Sean rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "Well actually. . . She's visiting her parents for a few days so I haven't gotten around to asking her."

"So you stole the cat?"

"Hey it's not stealing. BB LIVES with me now. He's my cat, too, now"

"Man, you've turned into quite the cat-dad"

"Fuck off" Sean laughed and Anti smiled just a hint, scratching under BB's chin.

There was silence for a while until Sean spoke up again, "You know Chase didn't mean what he said. . . .right?"

Anti's smile fell but he kept petting the cat, "̸B̷u̴l̸l̵s̶h̸i̴t̵e̴.̶ He meant every word of it."

"No he didn't and you know it. He was just upset that we took his booze away and instant-sobered him."

"He thinks I'm a monster and really I don't blame him, Sean. I DID try to kill you all. I've killed and tortured people. There's no escaping that."

"But you made up for it all, Anti. We all haven't forgotten what you did. Otherwise you wouldn't be living here." Sean joined him in petting BB.

"I hurt him before. And then when he had just started to trust me, I stabbed him"

"Hush, Anti. Chase wouldn't have come here and helped you for nothing. You KNOW he really cares about you. And he knows it, too. You guys are gonna have to have a talk here at some point, you know"

Anti flipped over on his back, staring up at the ceiling. He felt anxious at the prospect of encountering Chase after today but he didn't want to tell Sean that. 

Suddenly a paw nudged his chest and Anti watched as BB slowly climbed his way up onto Anti's stomach and laid down perched, staring down at Anti with those big eyes.

"Aw" Sean cooed, "He really likes you. You feel better now since I brought him?"

Anti didn't say anything but as he pet BB, stroking his little head and cheeks, he nodded.

BB was just what he needed today.

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Chase was in for it for the rest of the day. Once Jackie and Henrik got home, Sean told them of what happened. Henrik lectured him for drinking again and Jackie swat him.

Of course Chase felt bad. He should never have said those things even if he knew Anti was right there or not. He knew Anti had improved greatly over the years and even though he stabbed him that night, Chase didn't hold it against him. It was just his natural reaction, after all.

He said the wrong thing and he knew it. Chase was in the wrong here. Every time he tried, he always ended making the wrong move.

Flashback

The two ego brothers were wasted that night, having drank a bar's worth, practically.

They sat on the couch together giggling and laughing about nothing. 

"Th-then I told him to f̵o̶o̵k̴ ̴o̶f̵f̸!̵ Didn't need 'im anymore!" Anti glitched as he spoke.

Chase laughed, "You fooking tell 'im! He ain't nothin!"

They both took another swig and Chase giggled before coughing a bit more seriously, "You ever fook him?"

Anti whined and shoved him, "̵N̸n̸n̷n̷o̴o̷o̷o̵o̸!̸ Gross!"

"Just asking bro~" he hiccuped, "Why you ever friends with him anyways?"

Anti blinked a few times, his mouth still on the bottle but had no problem telling Chase, "He was my friend! He was  . . .. he was there and you g̵u̷y̶z̷z̷z̴ ̵weren't so. . . ."

Chase breathed in and groaned, "Oooooohhhh! I feel like an asshole!" he hugged Anti and the glitch accepted it, leaning into it.

If he had been sober, this entire conversation would have never happened, let alone the hug or confession. Anti had been even more on guard back then and would NEVER have opened up to anyone like that. It was a weakness and he had always been told that. Dark had drilled that into his head for so long.

"Want another?" Chase offered him another beer and Anti grabbed it, "̴F̴o̸o̴k̸ ̷y̶e̶a̸h̶!̶"̵

End of Flashback

That next morning, Anti woke up cuddled into Chase and had instantly remembered everything he told him. He had been so angry with himself, he couldn't handle it and snapped.

He hadn't been even staying that long since after the party. He was still learning to control his anger. 

He didn't mean it but it had happened.

Anti freaked out on Chase, yelling and shouting at him that he wasn't weak. He didn't need anyone. Feelings were all just weakness.

Then he stabbed Chase in the stomach.

Chase remembered it like it was yesterday. A memory like that doesn't just fade away. Yes, he was angry at Anti for what he did to him, almost killing him but he couldn't help but forgive him for it. 

After being the bad guy for so long and hanging around Dark, he couldn't blame him for snapping.

Chase just shouldn't have asked so many questions.

He pried where he shouldn't have. He should have just left everything be and let Anti come to them sober on his own. 

And then he just had to get drunk AGAIN and say all of that.

Yeah, Chase just wasn't in the best place but not one person asked him WHY he got drunk today. A little smolder of resentment flickered in him. 

This was all about Anti.