Love Me Like You Do (Ianthony AU)

Chapter 31: Hate.

"I don't want him, trust me. Anything else you wanna say about him?"

Anthony nodded, eyes slipping shut as he dozed, "he so sweet and-and sexy." 

"Oh really?" 

He nodded enthusiastically even with his eyes drooping in exhaustion. "Uh-huh! He's the best and his hair's so soft and his eyes so blue. Like the ocean and the sky had an eye-baby. I call him an asshole sometimes but he-he's so great and-"  and then Anthony started to snore very loudly, alerting me to the fact he'd passed out mid-sentence.

I checked the time, sighing when it became clear it was one in the morning. I crawled into bed beside Anthony, hoping his headache wouldn't be too bad in the morning so that we both wouldn't have to suffer; him from pain and me from dealing with his complaining.

~

The coffee shop refreshed me the next morning, I chugged down a black coffee at six just before getting ready to open for the day. Sawyer and I were working the first shift together and he hadn't arrived yet, running late as usual.

"Greetings, faggot," he called when he finally entered the shop, ten minutes late of course.

"You're late again."

"What's it to you? I'm surprised you were on time instead of being late because of making out with your loser boyfriend."

I took a step closer to him, feeling defensive in an instant. "Firstly: I've never been late. Second: Anthony's not a loser."

"Too bad, you're both freaks anyway."

I'd had enough as I walked across the shop towards him, "okay, that's it! What is your fucking problem with me?! I've been nothing but civil to you, so what the fuck crawled up your ass and died for you to be such a dick towards me?"

I'd stepped so close in my rage that I could see the way his pupils dilated. Could see the tensing of his muscles. Could see the way his jaw tightened.

Could see all these things, just before he kissed me.

His lips were harsh, painful even as he grabbed my hair to keep me from pulling back. I flailed my arms, hitting him harshly in the chest to loosen his hold as I shoved myself from his grip. I stumbled backwards a few steps, nearly falling over my own feet in my haste to leave. I didn't care that I was leaving work, I didn't care I would lose some money, didn't care I would be in trouble for leaving without a good reason.

But it was too late to think about those things as I was running towards my place of comfort, Mari and Melanie's apartment. I remember last year when my first semi-serious girlfriend (semi-serious being a slight exaggeration) broke up with me and I showed up at their apartment, teary eyed and sad. They comforted me and assured me I wasn't a horrible boyfriend and that it was the girls loss. I knew that whenever I was sad or in need I could go to them and get my dose of family love.

When Mari opened the door in her pajamas it reminded me of just how early it was and I felt bad for waking them up. I was still shaking, feeling dirty and like I needed to wash my mouth out with soap to forever eliminate him from me. "Ian," Melanie's voice drew me from my thoughts, "you okay?"

And then I started to cry, maybe it makes me a pussy but..I cried because I felt violated. A kiss had been forced upon me from someone I did not want it from, making me feel effected on a highly personal level.

I was guided into the apartment, sat on the couch beside Mari while Mel went into her bedroom. I could hear her on the phone with someone a few minutes later. My body was shivering, not from cold but from the stress my body was trying to handle all of a sudden. "Ian," Mari calmly stated as she rubbed circles on my back, "what's going on?"