"I didn't think you were going to show up."

Anti whirled around to look behind him when he heard Dark's voice, but could see nothing in the darkness that was wrapped him.

"You seem to like to try things that are destined to fail."

Anti jumped in surprise when Dark suddenly appeared in front of Anti once he had turned around.

"So why don't you kill yourself?" Dark taunted, stepping closer to Anti. His brown eyes were cold and hard, causing Anti to panic and stumble back.

He was too late.

Anti felt his hand tremble as he reached into the pocket of his ripped black skinny  jeans and retrieved the black pocket knife that used to belong to Billy. No matter how hard Anti tried, he couldn't stop himself from flicking the bloodstained silver blade open and slicing his own neck with it.

"Anti, we're here."

Anti inhaled sharply as he instinctively put his hand to the scar on his neck and quickly opened his eyes to take in his unfamiliar surroundings. He was still on the plane, but the engine was silent and people were removing their bags from the racks overhead before leaving.

"You okay? You look like you've seen a ghost." Murphy teased, although his eyes betrayed his concern.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine." Anti stuttered, trying to collect his bearings as he shook his head to clear the remnants of his nightmare away. He glanced out the window one last time even though they had landed before standing up and following Murphy off of the plane.

Anti was surprised to see Murphy not drunk considering that the waitress's kept trying to give him whisky and other alcoholic drinks.

Murphy hailed a taxi that took them to a car rental area. Murphy picked out a silver Chevy truck while Anti happily chose a polished black four door Jeep since Murphy was paying for it, already knowing that he would have to find a muddy area to drive through later.

"In case you wanna look around in your spare time." Murphy smirked as he tossed Anti the keys.

They separately drove to the hotel they were staying at, Anti checking into room one hundred and thirty one. Thankfully it was on the first floor.

He hated heights.

The room looked really nice with a hot tub bath, queen size bed, and sixty inch flat screen. There was even some fancy mints and chocolates waiting for him on his pillow, as well as the card with the wifi code.

To his left was the spacious bathroom and to the right was a kitchenette with a sink and mini fridge stocked with alcohol.

Anti dumped his suitcase by his bed before moving the candy and card to the white bedside table and flopping down face first onto the pillow.

Anti stayed motionless for a couple of moments as his body sunk further into the mattress before he retrieved his phone from his pocket to call Dark and ask if he had landed yet.

Before he could grab his phone, he heard a loud clang come from the window by his bed.

Anti's head shot up as he looked out at the city, unable to pinpoint what could've caused the noise.

"A dumbass bird probably hit the window." Anti thought aloud as he returned his attention to his phone.

Anti looked up at the window just in time to see a small rock hit it and bounce off.

"What the hell?" Anti mumbled as he bounced off of the bed to his feet and walked over to peer out the window.

He could see Dark standing below him with a rock in one hand and a bouquet of green flowers that Anti couldn't identify, but looked beautiful nonetheless.

Dark was wearing his uniform minus the contacts. He had also neatly brushed his raven black hair and trimmed his face, his suit pressed and clean.

Anti opened his window and shivered when a gust of cold air entered, creating goose bumps on his bare arms.

"About time!" Dark yelled up to him with a grin, dropping the rock in his hand back down to the ground.

"What are you doing?" Anti yelled down at him, feeling his face heat up despite the cold.

"I figured since this is our first date I should do it right!" Dark explained with a shrug as if the answer was obvious.

"I'll be down in a sec!" Anti answered before he hastily shut the window, his thoughts racing like a whirlwind.

He didn't bring anything nice to wear.

He glanced down at his black skinny jeans ripped at the knees and fitted black t-shirt, reluctantly deciding that it would have to do.

Anti brushed his hair and trimmed his goatee before brushing his teeth and rushing out the door after grabbing his key card, phone, and a piece of chocolate for the road.

"I didn't think you were going to show up." Dark remarked once Anti jogged out to meet him at the entrance of the hotel, handing him the light green flowers.

"Well you wanted me here, so here I am." Anti grinned as he accepted them.

"They're zinnia's." Dark stayed sheepishly, running the back of his neck awkwardly.

"They're perfect." Anti assured Dark, mentally cursing himself in his head for saying something so stupid.

Dark seemed to appreciate his words nonetheless as he led Anti to the long black limo parked in front of them.

"You rented a limo?!" Anti asked incredulously as Dark opened the back for him.

"And a chauffeur." Dark winked as he climbed in as well.

"Where to?" The driver turned back to look at them. He had hazel eyes and short chocolate brown eyes, his face bald of facial hair.

Dark whispered an address into the driver's ear, raising Anti's excitement even more.

The driver nodded before he pulled away from the hotel towards the secret destination only him and Dark knew.

"So, how have you been?" Dark prompted.

"Pretty good I guess. I'm nervous about the competition and ki-the job." Anti admitted, biting his tongue to avoid saying what their true intention were.

"It'll be alright." Dark promised, taking Anti's hand on his and squeezing it tight.

"I've been meaning to ask, why were you acting weird the last time I called?" Anti abruptly changed the subject, feeling his face grow hot and his heart speed up.

"I-its nothing." Dark stammered, looking away from Anti out the window at the blurry city landscape racing past them.

"Tell me...please." Anti added, scooting closer to Dark.

"It's just...I'm going through a lot right now." Dark sighed wearily.

"Such as?" Anti pressed.

Before Dark could answer, the limo slowed to a stop at their destination.

"Welcome to Juuri, the best rated restaurant in Finland." Dark beamed as he gestured to the tan brick building with concrete steps that led up to an oak door to their right.

"How did you afford this?" Anti gasped in bewilderment as he stepped out of the limo and gaped up at the looming building.

"Infelix." Dark smirked mischievously, holding up the envelope of money Infelix had given him.

Anti smirked back as the two walked up the steps, Dark pulling the door open and ushering Anti in first before he followed behind him.

The inside looked a lot less fancier than Anti expected, but he didn't mind. He liked casual, even though he felt far from it.

A waiter led them to a table with a white table cloth towards the back against a brick wall with an archway.

There were two oak chairs on either side, as well as menses and wine glasses, as well as a plate and silverware wrapped up in a napkin.

"What would you two like to drink?" The waiter asked once they sat down.

"Two creme sodas." Dark stated matter-of-factly, his expression dead serious as the waiter eyed him as if he thought Dark was insane.

"Okay then, would you like it in the can?" The waiter asked, furrowing his eyebrows in confusion as he tried to decipher if Dark was kidding or not.

"That'd be great." Dark nodded with a smile.

The waiter hesitated for a moment before shaking his head and disappearing to get their drinks.

"This place is amazing!" Anti gushed as he looked around him in awe at the other tables and shelves lined with spices next to them.

"Here's your...creme soda." The waiter handed them their cans of soda.

"Ready to order?" The waiter asked as he whipped out a small notepad and pencil from his black apron pocket tied around his waist, his pencil poised over the paper as he glanced between Dark and Anti.

"I'll have the chicken and broccoli." Dark answered as he handed back his menu.

"I'll have the same." Anti decided since he didn't know the choices yet as he handed his menu back as well.

"Coming right up." The waiter nodded as he jotted the order down before darting off again out of sight.

"I didn't know they had creme soda here." Anti mused.

"I requested that they kept it for me when I made a reservation." Dark confessed.

"When did you make a reservation?" Anti asked.

"When I knew we were going to be doing the competition." Dark replied.

"I'm so glad you like it here." Dark added as he watched Anti open his soda with a click of the tab followed by a soft hiss as it popped open.

"Your food." Their waiter placed their plates in front of them before walking off to serve another table. The portions were ridiculously small as if they were meant for children, not grown adults.

"That was fast." Anti remarked as he started cutting into his chicken.

"Yeah." Dark nudged his food around his plate with his fork instead of eating it, his gaze distant even though he was looking right at Anti.

"Seriously, what's up? You said you're dealing with a lot, and I want to help." Anti spoke through a mouthful of food.

"It's...complicated." Dark's eyes dropped down to look at his untouched food smeared around his plate.

I can understand complicated, Anti thought, remembering his recent nightmares.

Each of them involved Dark.

Does that mean that I shouldn't be with him or else I'll get hurt?, Anti wondered internally as he studied Dark's vacant stare.

His brain screamed yes, but his heart cried no.

"I've been having nightmares with you in them." Anti spoke slowly as if talking to a child, not wanting to anger him.

Dark was silent, but his gaze instantly shot up to Anti's eyes.

"I'm scared you'll hurt me more than help me, I've never been in a relationship before. But I'm still willing to give us a try." Anti reached out across the table and grabbed Dark's hand in his.

"Then what were we before now?" Dark snapped.

"Brothers." Anti whispered, remembering when they had sat on the couch and played video games early in the morning while Infelix slept.

"I understand." Dark growled softly, dropping his silverware on his plate.

"You seem to like to try things that are destined to fail!"

Dark yelled in fury, his dark brown eyes burning with rage as he glared at Anti.

He finally looked like the villain everyone portrayed him as online.

Darkiplier.

Dark's eyes grew wide with shock directed towards himself as if unable to believe what he said as Anti swallowed hard, blinking rapidly.

"Anti-"

"I gotta go." Anti abruptly stood up from the table, shoving the chair back with a squeak before storming out, biting his tongue to keep the tears welling in his eyes from spilling out as he pushed through the door.

The limo took Anti to the hotel, leaving Dark far in the dust. Anti let the tears freely stream from his eyes down his cheeks and drip onto the carpeted floor.

"I should've known, he never actually liked me." Anti scowled bitterly as he angrily swiped the remaining tears off of his face once the limo parked at the hotel entrance.

Anti didn't even stop to pay the driver as he stormed inside the hotel and locked himself in the bathroom, staring at his reflection in the mirror as he used the counter to keep him steady.

His dark emerald green hair was wildly sticking up in various places, his eyes and nose red from crying. Even his shirt was soaking wet with tears.

Anti spotted the black pocketknife laying on the counter out of the corner of his eye, causing images of his latest nightmare to return.

"So why don't you kill yourself." Anti repeated the words Dark had said in his nightmare, closing his eyes to see Dark's rage filled expression.

Anti took a deep shaky breath to steady his hands before picking up the pocketknife and flicking the blade open.

The dried blood stained on it glinted menacingly in the lights, reflecting Anti's multicolored eyes back at him in the few spots where silver still shone through.

"I'll give him what he wants." Anti whispered fiercely, placing the knife on his neck on top of his scar.

"Anti!"

Anti hesitated when he heard Dark's voice on the other side of the bathroom door.

"Go the fuck away!" Anti sobbed, feeling as if his heart was being ripped from his chest.

If we're destined to fail, then what's the point?!, Anti screamed internally.

Even though Dark hated him, Anti still longed for Dark to hold him close and tell him that everything would be okay.

"I don't mean what I said, I'll admit it, I'm terrified out of my mind!" Dark yelled through the door, his voice muffled.

"Sure." Anti scoffed, his hand unraveling from his neck.

"I'm scared about the competition, I'm scared to admit what I am, and I'm sure as hell scared to do what I've been planning for years now." Dark's voice softened.

"I've been planning on running away from this life with you, away from Infelix and the Shadows for good so we don't have to do this crazy mission." Dark continued.

Neither of them spoke for a couple of moments, the silence deafening.

"It's about time I used this blade to kill someone who actually deserved it." Anti chuckled coldly as he sliced his scar open, the pain dull as he fell onto his knees before collapsing onto his back his back, blood pooling around him onto the white tile and turning it crimson.

Anti heard Dark pound in the door, screaming and crying for Anti to stay alive until he finally managed to break the door down.

The last thing Anti saw was Billy standing over him with an evil satisfied grin before blackness enveloped his vision.