"Aaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!"

A little boy's scream rang through the hallway.

The patter of small footsteps sounded, getting closer and closer to their doom.

The monster laughed sinisterly, chasing his victim. He had him right where he wanted him.

"Daddy! Help me!"

"Jack!?"

"Daddy! He's coming to get me! Help!"

The little boy made it to the kitchen where his father was.

But it was too late.

"GOTCHA!"

Hands grabbed the little boy and threw him up in the air before catching him again easily.

"YOU'RE MINE NOW, LITTLE JACK!"

"LET ME GO!"

The screams quickly turned to hard-to-contain giggles.

"Uncle Anti, stop it!!"

The said 'monster' was attacking him with tickles on his sides.

The father, meanwhile, was sipping his tea with a small smirk on his face.

"Alright, Anti, ya got him. Play time's over"

Anti, still smiling wide and chuckling, put little Jack down and gave his hair a ruffle.

Jack fixed his hair stubbornly, "Hey dad, when are the others supposed to get here?"

"What? Ya not happy with my company?!" Anti feigned hurt.

"No!" Jack shoved him, "I just can't wait to see Olivia, Benny and Iris again is all"

Chase shrugged, "They'll be here soon. It's not even noon yet, kid. Go help your mother, will ya? That should keep your mind off it. And if she doesn't need help, why don't ya go play checkers with Uncle Jameson?"

Little Jack sighed but didn't argue, " . . .okay" he walked off towards the living room, leaving Chase and Anti by themselves in the kitchen.

Anti nodded to him, "What's up? I take it you wanted to talk?"

Chase set his tea down on the counter and nodded, taking a deep breathe, "How long's it been now, Anti? Since the fight?"

Anti didn't like thinking about it. He hated remembering that day. But it hadn't been all bad. It led them to the lives they had now.

"About a year. Why?" he crossed his arms, uncomfortable with the conversation already.

Chase knew this but he couldn't help himself, " . . . . I just . . . . I don't know. . .  it still feels weird to me . . you know? I know I should be happy but everytime I see her face . . . MY Stacey is all I can think about it. How he killed her. This still all feels like a dream. Like they're not really my family."

"I'm gonna stop you right there, Chase" Anti halted him, "Just relax. The fight is over. We've talked about this. They are still your family. They are exact. I know it's hard. . . . every time I see YOU guys . . .I still see MY Septics dead on the floor. But I know you all are the same people. You're still my brothers no matter the  universe. Just as they are still your family . . . no matter what universe they are from. Okay?"

Chase took a deep breathe and nodded, "Yeah . . .. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have brought it up."

"It's okay. It'll take time. I know. You should talk to her, too, about this. She could help"

Chase shook his head sternly, "No. And don't you bring it up to her, either. I think she already knows about my feelings. I mean I love her but . . . it's hard to explain and I don't want to hurt her feelings needlessly. Don't tell her anything.

Anti felt conflicted, though. Stacey and him were actually good friends. He was friends with all the ego's spouses and family. He knew them longer than he knew THESE Septic egos. 

But he nodded reluctantly, "You got it.  . . .  talk to her soon, though, Chase. If you THINK she already knows . ..  odds are that she DOES already know."

Chase grabbed his tea again nervously but nodded, "So when ARE the others supposed to get here?"

"Should be here by now but knowing Marv, they're just late. He said he was gonna take them all to Hen's verse and then jump here."

"We need a better system for meeting" Chase groaned, "Why can't he just make an object teleport us directly here? Like on that wizard movie" he pretended to wave a wand, " . . . what was it called?"

"Okay, FUCK YOU!" an angry voice sounded just outside of the kitchen. He burst in, ready to rant.

"It's Fucking Harry Potter and you KNOW it! I MADE you watch the movies! And it's called a portkey!"

"Marvin!" Anti rushed to hug him.

Marvin was still upset and glaring daggers at Chase but still hugged Anti just as fiercely.

"Yeah, I know" Chase smirked, "I just saw your cape peeking from behind the wall and decided to mess with ya. But you know, you COULD do a portkey or whatever. It'd make things easier-"

Marvin pushed Anti away from him gently, "No. . .  I CAN'T. I've already EXPLAINED this to you. It's harder than it SOUNDS. WHERE'S MY NEPHEW!?"

Chase snickered at him, "He's either with Stace or James. You already bring the others?"

"Duh" Marvin flipped his hair sassily and walked out of the kitchen, "JACK! Come give your FAVORITE uncle a hug~!"

Chase rolled his eyes, "We all know his favorite uncle is Jackie"

Anti laughed and the two left the kitchen to go greet everyone else.

They all just spent Christmas together the previous week but now they decided they didn't get to see enough of each other so they were spending New Years Eve together, as well. Of course Jameson lived with Anti but Chase, Stacey and Jack  decided to stay since Christmas to spend more time with Anti and Jameson. They were already on vacation anyway and Stacey found plenty to do around the house, remarking how much Anti was still the same, not picking up after himself.

The only ones that couldn't come back so soon were Griffith, Wiles and Emily from alt Jameson's universe. But the puppeteer was happy nonetheless to be spending New Years Eve with the rest of his Septic family.

They all sat together in the living room while Jack, Benny, Olivia and Iris played upstairs.

"Hard to believe it's already been over a year" Jackie muttered.

"Hard to believe you keep bringing it up" Henrik rolled his eyes, "We do not need zhe same conversation every time we meet, Jackie"

"Sorry . . . I guess it's just hard to get past . . . . You think Sean is doing okay?"

"He's good" Marvin grinned, "You should see all the shit he's up to. He's never been better"

"Wait, you've been watching him?" Chase raised a brow, "Thought you said you stopped peeking through other dimensions"

"Yeah, OTHER dimensions. Said nothing about our collective own. Just thought I'd keep tabs on him is all"

Anti crossed his arms, hugging himself nervously, "So . . . Eva, how's your research going lately?"

Jackie found it odd that Anti changed the subject like that but thought nothing of it. 

It not like any of them had anything to hide.

It wasn't long before the group split off again with Sammie, Eva and Stacey in the kitchen gossiping. Evan decided to stay with the boys, his arm around Marvin, "So how are we REALLY all doing? You all seem so tense still lately."

"I'm not tense" Marvin snorted dejectedly, "I'm absolutely fucking perfect"

"Mm, yes you are, dear. Sure. Then why have you been oh so moody lately? You've been cursing a LOT more the last few weeks than normal"

"I have? Oh .. . I hadn't noticed"

"I have" Chase muttered against the lip of his beer bottle only to get a pillow thrown at him.

Henrik rolled his eyes and fixed his glasses, "Such children . . . .I feel that we all might be . . . still withered from  . . . before" he chose his words carefully, "I  . . .." he sighed, "You know, I feel like I don't even know my daughter . . . . little Iris . . . I still feel like I missed too much of her life"

Everyone was silent. They didn't know what to say but they all felt quite similar.

"I was just telling Anti earlier today . . . It still doesn't feel real. Me and Stacey . . . all I see when I look at her is MY Stacey dead on the floor."

"I guess we all still got issues, huh?" Jackie tried to make light of it even though there was no real way to do that, "I uh . . . I hate it but Sammie is back together with that stupid firefighter. I don't think . . . .I just don't think my Sammie would have ever done that. He was such a loser. . .I just wanna crush his skull"

"Whoa, easy there" Anti laughed shakily, "You're starting to sound like the old me there for a moment! At least Benny has his dad back . .. right?"

Jackie just gave Anti a small glare, "I wouldn't REALLY kill him . ..  maybe beat him"

Jameson couldn't handle the negativity. He had to do something!

It was in this moment that he knew it was time to break the news to them!

He knocked on the coffee table with his fist to get their attention and started to sign.

'I know we've all had our fair share of hardships and pain. I know a lot of us are still hurting. But I don't think we should cling onto the bad so much. We should move forward and just try. Try to be happy! That's why I have news for you all!' he grinned.

"What is it, James?" Anti asked him, getting excited. Even he didn't know what the news was.

'I proposed to Emily a few days ago! We're getting married!'

All the boys jumped up and rushed out to either hug him or pat his pat, congratulating him. Jameson couldn't have been happier. Perhaps with this news, they could lean their hearts to more positive thoughts!

If only. . . .

Evan raised a brow at Marvin, "Where's MY ring?"

Marvin snorted, "Oh really? This again? I already told you, I don't think we have to get married"

"But I WANT to" Evan argued, "And I want kids, too. Don't you?"

"Can we not discuss this here? Jameson just gave us amazing news. We can talk later"

Evan rolled his eyes but gave in.

Aaaaand now it was awkward again.

Anti almost thought that maybe he should have gone to play with the kids instead.

Needless to say, they all made it to midnight except for the kids of course. They were all welcome to sleep their own respective alt rooms for the night before they had to leave in the morning.

Anti hated the mornings after a holiday. It meant they were all going to be leaving. Chase and Stacey would be leaving the next day with Jack as well. 

Anti laid in his bed staring up at the ceiling, deep in thought. 

His heart ached when he realized what Jameson's proposal meant.

It meant he'd be leaving him again, too.

And then he'd be all alone again in this big old house.

 He sighed heavily, wondering.

Would they still all come to visit as often?

A Dark figure outside watched the house critically.

His eyes narrowed down on all the windows, paying attention mindfully on each of them. How many there were. Where they walked. How many of their lights were either off or on.

He'd been watching for a while. Studying them.

For very soon, he'd finally take action and take what was his.

Even if he had to kill each and every one of them.

Hey . ..  I'm back :) Did you guys miss me?
If you haven't realized yet, this is a sequel to, 'One, Two . .. He's Coming for You'. This is the second book so if you haven't read the first one, I'd HEAVILY suggest that you do, otherwise NONE of this will make ANY sense. See you all in the next chapter :)