It was awkward at first. 

Even just talking to Sean normally was weird for Anti.

He still harbored a lot of distrust for him but Anti really wasn't one for holding a grudge forever. He still cared for his creator. He just always wanted his family to be happy.

Sean first, however, had to get past Anti's entourage.

Namely Jackie and Marvin were the worst for protecting him. After getting his soul back, Anti was a lot noticeably happier but that didn't mean THEY trusted Sean completely, either. 

Henrik and Jameson were pretty neutral as long as their personal business wasn't bothered but Chase was TRYING to be neutral.

On one end, he was happy they all made amends somewhat. However, on the other, he was still furious with Sean. He seemed to be the only one that wasn't truly happy. Everyone seemed to be doing great with their lives  and Anti got his soul back and they all had started their own futures and such.

But Chase was different. He really didn't have much of a future. Sure, he liked doing the vlogs with James . .. . . . but he missed his family.

The family that Sean took away from him.

Yeah, if anyone, Chase still held a grudge for his creator.

But they were all trying for Anti's sake.

They were at the bar by Anti's apartment. Together. Because no way in hell were they going to let Anti be alone with Sean yet.

They all sat together in a booth and had ordered some food for dinner. Of course Sean was paying, why wouldn't he? 

"I'm sure he's good for it. Let's trap him into it" Marvin had said before they left.

And of course it was Marvin that started ordering tons of appetizers but the others were just as bad. But Sean wasn't mad about it. He knew tonight would make a dent in his pockets and he was prepared for it. Plus he knew they all loved to eat.

But he DID underestimate Jackie and Anti's stomachs together. Especially when they started to make it a competition.

Once again, though, Sean didn't mind. They were all smiling and having fun. Except for one ego who seemed to be trying to burn a hole through his head. Chase was still upset with him. He hoped they would eventually be okay, though.

"So . ..  your birthday's coming up soon, Sam" Sean commented, "What do you want for your birthday?"

Anti stopped eating and swallowed down what food he had in his mouth, "Uh . . . I  . .. I don't know. Never had any birthday presents before. Don't need 'em. And just call me Anti. It's who I am now, after all"

"Right. . ." Sean  nodded, "Well I guess we'll just have to change that. The birthday thing, that is"

Anti just shrugged and went back to eating. He didn't really know what to say to Sean.

Duke came over with a platter of drinks and laughed, "Didn't think ya had so much family let alone knew so many people, Andy! And Chase! I didn't think I'd see YOU around anyone!"

Chase nodded, "Yeah, we all just got to together again.  . . .  it's been awhile"

"Well anyway, here's a batch on me, kid! The next round, though, you're paying. Got it?"

They all pointed to Sean, "HE'S PAYING!"

Sean just chuckled, "Can you make a tab for me? Seems we'll be here a while anyway"

"Sure thing, pal" Duke set down the drinks for them and left back to the bar.

Everyone took a drink but Sean glanced at Chase longer than he should have. Chase saw him look his way and glared at him.

"What? Gonna tell me how I shouldn't drink? Tell me I should stay sober in loving memory of my dead family?"

That stung. Everyone took their drink uneasily and Anti sipped at his awkwardly.

Jackie just nudged him though and winked and addressed Chase, "Hey man, take it easy. He can't tell ya to do shit, remember? Just remember that"

Chase scoffed but downed a whiskey, glowering right into Sean's eyes.

Sean didn't say anything. He wasn't going to fan the flames and besides, Chase was right. Or at least, he had more of a reason to drink than any of them.

His heart filled up with guilt again. The only thing that would make this night better was something he didn't know how to do.

"Aaaaaanyway" Marvin segwayed, "So the food's pretty good, huh?"

Henrik nodded, "The pretzels are very good"

'And the wings!' Jameson added.

Anti grinned wide, "Doesn't this place have the BEST wings!? AND FRIES!"

Chase snorted with a small smile, "Yeah remember that night here a few weeks ago and we ordered the same thing?"

"We tend to do that I've noticed" Anti snickered.

"Chase told me he ran into you a long while back at the grocery store" Sean pointed out, "Marvin's also told me you had a crush on the girl working there. What's she like?"

"Oh that's SO old news!" Marvin rolled his eyes, "Tell him, Anti"

Anti blushed and went silent. The only thing he could think of at that moment was how uncomfortable this conversation was. Or rather. . . how strange it was to just talk to Sean directly.

"Uh . . . . ."

Jackie noticed Anti's reluctance and offered assistance, "Him and Gabriella decided to just be friends. Him and ZANE, however, kind of hit it off"

Chase stopped drinking and narrowed his eyes at Anti who looked like he wanted to hide under the table.

Sean smirked a little, "Oh? And who's this Zane?"

"Some stalker he saw at zhe furniture store downtown." Henrik provided, "Apparently Anti's into zhat sort of thing"

"No I'm not!"

"Oh so you're NOT dating him now?" Marvin teased.

Chase saw red.

"I! uH . . . .." Anti didn't know what to say, really, " . . . I don't know"

"YA DON'T KNOW!?" Chase shouted, alerting some other people in the bar.

Sean tried to ease him, "Whoa, calm down there, Chase. I'm sure he's not so bad"

Chase growled, "Not so BAD?! You've never even met him! The guy's a creep who sunk his claws into Anti's head and now this little IDIOT thinks he's CUTE!"

Anti shrugged, "Well he IS. And you don't really know him, either, Chase. He's just shy is all. We've been on a couple dates already"

Chase shattered the shot glass in his hand.

"Oh boy" Jackie chuckled, "Uh  . .. . Hey Chase, how's the vlogging going with Jameson?"

Chase couldn't take it anymore, though and laughed humorlessly, "Oh just peachy. No offense, James"

'None taken. We all know you're in a rough patch, Chase' Jameson signed, 'It'll get better eventually'

"Eventually" Chase scoffed, "Meanwhile, everyone here is happy except for me." he downed another shot and shook his head at Anti, "Where's my happy ending, huh? You promised we'd be happier"

Anti looked struck but Chase continued, "Who am I kidding though, huh? It's not YOUR fault." he turned his scowl to Sean, "It's YOURS. For pretending and keeping so many secrets. My family's DEAD because of YOU. All I want is to have them back but I can't have that. . . .Hope your fucking story was worth it" he stood up and got out of the booth, "Sorry Anti, but I can't stand one more second around him. I'll see you later. Bye guys"

With that, they all watched Chase leave.

Another awkward silence filled the booth and even Marvin couldn't say anything to mellow out the tension.

Anti looked a little heartbroken but he understood Chase's rage and sighed, "He's right, you know. I'm sorry Sean but you really did mess up, you know. There's no fixing Chase's misery. Not overnight at least"

"I know" Sean agreed, " . . . . . . It's not like I don't feel bad about it"

"I know"

The others drank and ate in silence for a while longer until Marvin commented something funny on the food. A little stress was taken away but nothing could really patch up what happened.

Sean came home that night but he didn't go to bed right away. He went to his office and pulled out a special box he had in the closet.

Inside of it were a bunch of photo albums. Old and new.

He took out the oldest one he had.

It was Chase's.

Sean started to open it and look through it from the beginning and immediately the heartbreak set in.

It was a picture of Chase, Stacey and his kids together.

It was a Christmas picture and they were all in ugly sweaters and even Stacey was participating and having fun. It was before her and Chase's split-up. But just because they had been split-up for a time didn't mean they didn't love each other. Chase would always love her AND their kids.

This was just one of the many times they were all together.

All smiling and laughing. Happy.

'I wonder they'd be like together today if they were here. Would Stacey and Chase get back together? Would their kids grow up?'

It's not like Sean didn't regret every day what he had done.

But it's not like he could bring them back, either.

.

.

.

.

.

Or could he?

A light bulb lit up in Sean's head, 'Why can't I?'

He didn't know how but just thinking that he COULD would be a start.

It was a start.

_____________________________________

It was August 13, Anti true birthday.

Anti didn't want it but everyone decided they needed to throw him a big birthday bash. A big celebration. The big shebang at Sean's house with food, music, presents and games.

All the Septic egos were there and Evelien, BB and some of Sean's friends who knew about his egos like Felix and Marzia, Wade and Bob. Sean had invited Mark but apparently he was off putting together the last finishing touching for his latest big project.

And of course there were some of Anti's friends like Duke, Sherry, Gab and Zane. They didn't know about egos but they were his friends and he wanted them there. Thankfully they were okay with just thinking Andy had a lot of identical brothers.

And as for Zane, him and Anti weren't dating anymore but they remained friends. The relationship didn't last long but Anti sort of figured out that perhaps he was just asexual and preferred to have friendships over dating.

The only one there that didn't seem to be having a lot of fun was Chase. Of course.

Seeing everyone else happy was sort of a kick in the gut. Of course he was happy for Anti but he didn't think his heart would ever really heal anymore after what he'd been through.

But something was odd.

He didn't see Sean anywhere in the backyard anymore. Or Anti. 

'Shit, did Sean get him alone? He better not try anything' Chase's protective instincts took over and he started to search for them.

"Hey Jackie, you know where Anti is?"

Jackie, in his chilling-wear sipped on a Capri Sun, "Oh I think Sean wanted to show him something inside"

"AND YOU LET HIM GO ALONE!?"

"Dude, just relax" Jackie told him, "It's been how many months now? He's fine, Chase"

"You know I'll never trust him after what he did, Jackie. Don't tell me YOU actually fully trust him again!"

"Yo what's the drama over here?" Marvin popped up licking at a popsicle.

"Jackie let Anti go with Sean alone!"

"Okay"

"OKAY?! Oh fuck you guys, I'm gonna go inside and look for him. MAKE SURE SEAN DIDN'T MINDCONTROL HIM OR SOMETHING!"

They just looked at him like HE was the crazy one, though.

Chase stomped off and shoved the sliding door open, "ANTI! Anti, where are you?!"

. . . . . . . 

"I'm up here!"

Chase heard the voice and knew exactly where it came from, 'Sean's room? Why the hell did Sean take him up there?!'

"Anti stay where you are! I'm coming!"

"HURRY UP!"

Chase ran as fast as he could. His heart raced and his body felt light, full of adrenaline.

When he came up to Sean's room, the door was locked.

"Open the door! Anti, I'm here! Open the damn door!"

There was no response. Now Chase was REALLY freaking out.

"Anti! Sean, I swear to fucking god if you hurt him-" he suddenly bust open the door.

The door swung open and Chase stood ready to fight.

Except . . . . .

Chase stilled.

He stared ahead of him and time stood still.

All his brothers were in the room along with Sean but three people stood out to him. Only the three.

He didn't know what to do.

He couldn't even breathe.

"Chase?"

Anti had come up to his side and poke him, "You alright? Go on." he nudged him.

Chase couldn't move, though.

Sean smiled, looking like he finally accomplished something he could be proud of.

The woman across the room stared back at Chase with just as much surprise, looking like she didn't know what to do, either. But she DID act. And so did her children.

"Daddy!" the kids bolted to Chase and hugged him around his his middle. Chase flinched but suddenly grabbed onto them like they were his anchors. The woman slowly walked up to him, too and Chase couldn't keep his eyes off her.

"Stacey?" he finally uttered, "Is . . . is that you?"

She smiled, "Ch-Chase . . . ." she nodded and started to tear up, "I thought . . . I thought I'd never see you again!" she ran into his arms and Chase caught her along with still holding onto his kids.

He breathed in her scent. It felt just like yesterday when she disappeared. She hadn't changed one bit, "Stacey. .  . . Kallie and Sammy" he hugged them all tighter and started to cry, "I . . ..  it really is you . . .how?"

They didn't answer and the kids cried and buried their faces in their father's clothes and Stacey and Chase hugged like they'd never get to again.

Everyone else in the room didn't matter.

Until Sean spoke up, "I brought them back"

Chase didn't let his family go, "H-how? . . . Y-you said   . ..  you said you couldn't"

"I didn't think I could" he admitted, "But after a few months grinding, I finally . . . did it" he smiled, "I did it, Chase"

Anti grinned, "Well?! What you think!? We couldn't wait for you to find out! Were you surprised!?"

Chase still  didn't want to let them go but the kids hopped up and down excitedly.

Marvin stuck his tongue out at them, "It was a big secret to keep but we figured you wouldn't mind this one"

"It really is them, though?" Chase just wanted to make sure, "It's not . . a copy or rendition or-"

"No" Sean confirmed, "It's really them, Chase. Just as they were"

Stacey suddenly grabbed Chase's face and kissed him, "That real enough for you, Ace?"

Chase blushed and just kissed her back softly, even making HER blush, "It'll be more real if I don't wake up"

She giggled, "Not a dream, big guy"

"Please don't leave me again" he teared up.

She pecked his lips once more, "You can't get rid of me, Ace. Never again"

He swayed her, "Guess we're stuck together"

"Not a problem to me" she swayed with him and the kids just laughed and fought for their father's attention which he gave. Of course he did.

Chase still didn't understand any of it but it didn't matter.

He didn't care.

He had his family back and that was all that mattered.

Anti watched in fascination. His heart was full as he saw Chase smile. The most joy he had ever seen in him his entire life.

Yeah, this was what he wanted.

And finally now his dreams were all fulfilled. He was happy and his family was finally happy.

_________________________________

That night, most of the guests had left leaving the egos, Sean and Evelien. And of course, Stacey and the kids. They all sat around  fire pit outside cooking hot dogs, sausages and smores over the flames. Chase and Stacey couldn't leave each other be but they were both okay with that. 

Anti watched silently as Chase laughed and told Stacey stories, not even realizing that those stories had to do with him.

Chase looked over to Anti and winked at him.

Anti didn't know why until Chase raised his glass at him, "To Anti . . . . . for never giving up on his dream. It really is one hell of a dream, bro"

Anti didn't blinked, not expecting the toast but everyone raised their glasses to him, too.

"To Anti" Jackie nodded, "For showing me there was more to my life than the gym and fighting"

"To Anti" Marvin joined in, "For giving me true freedom and showing me adventure outside of Sean's head"

"To Anti" Henrik continued, "For making MY dream to become a real doctor come true! I never vould have been able to do it vithout your help!"

'To Anti' Jameson signed, 'For breaking us out into a whole new world to explore and thrive in'

Anti teared up at all of their toasts to him but it wasn't over.

"To Anti" Sean raised his glass to him, "For showing me how much of an idiot I was. For showing me the truth of my old ways and bringing me out into the light. You really are a great wonder, Anti. Thank you"

They all raised their glasses higher and drank to him.

Anti stood up suddenly and smiled with tears streaming down his face, "No . . . . to you all" he raised his own glass, "For giving me the chance to make MY dream come true. For the chance to see you all truly happy. For the chance to be a part of the family with you all. I love you guys"

Anti wiped away his tears but still smiled so bright.

"Here's to no longer being enemies! TO FAMILY!"

The sound of laughter and cheering filled the air. The songs of a happy birthday. The roaring of the fire pit as they all continued to stay up late. No one wanting the night to end.

But it was okay if it did.

Because now they had their whole lives ahead of them with nothing in their way to being happy.

Because now they were all free.

The End.

Well? :D What you guys think? Good ending? Did I miss anything? Any plotholes? I hope not, because I'm happy with how this one turned out. This story was SUPER fun to write. It was one of my favorites to write and I hope it was one of your favorites to read.

See you all in the next ones! As always thank you all SO MUCH for all the comments, votes, reads and follows!

'Used to the Cage' and another brand new story I'm gonna call, 'Made for You' (Y/N and Septic ego story) will start and continue so I hope to see you all there!