Love Me Like You Do (Ianthony AU)

Chapter 35: Love (FINAL CHAPTER)

He dialed back immediately, pacing around in front of the glass wall of Anthony's apartment. Kalel answered on the second ring, voice ringing out loud and clear through the speakers. "Ian Hecox, what did you do to him?!" She was angry, angrier than Ian could ever remember her being. 

"What's wrong?"

"He showed up at my house at three in the morning piss drunk, that's what! He won't stop crying. He's sober now, but he won't say a word to me. Just kept telling me to call you. So, I'll repeat, what did you do?!"

Ian groaned, already shoving his shoes on by the front door. "It doesn't matter. I'm coming over." He hung up the phone, not giving Kalel a chance to respond.

~

While Ian was in a state of anger, Anthony was stuck in a spiral of despair. 

He'd gotten smashed at a bar that was quite near to his apartment, the first place he'd thought to go to. He'd given up drinking not long ago, for health reasons, but that was thrown out of the window when Ian dropped the bomb on him. 

He'd been building his life to revolve around his Ian, his Blue Eyes. And now, come the end of August, Ian wouldn't be there to revolve around. He would be off in Los Angeles, having fun with hot girls or guys, and Anthony would be where he always was. Here, in Sacramento, alone. 

Of course, he had his friends. And, not too long ago, he would have been more than one hundred percent okay with that. But, that changed when he met the blue-eyed man who kind of just..became a part of him. Ian stole his heart away, locked it in a steel cage that couldn't be unlocked by anyone but him. 

As Anthony sat in that dirty bar, he played with the small box in his pocket. It contained something he'd saved for. He'd searched for the perfect one. He sighed as he pulled the box out in front of him, sobs coming from his mouth as he opened the box to reveal the promise ring he'd picked out especially for Ian last week. 

It was simple, silver with a very tiny sapphire embedded in the center of it. His own matching one was in a drawer at home, having a small gold-tinted crystal instead of a sapphire in it. But he supposed he wouldn't need them anymore. 

Ian would say they could make the long-distance thing work, but soon he would see what college had to offer him. Anthony shivered at the thought of Ian meeting some ridiculously successful man or woman who would become rich and famous and sweep him off of his feet. The person would be stunningly good looking as well, probably blonde-haired and with bright eyes, constantly dressed in coordinated outfits. 

Anthony wore sweatpants most of the time, he worked in a gym. Sure, he made good money, but he was in no way rich and famous. There was no way he could compare to someone that was talented and handsome. After meeting all those people from college..Ian would realize he was dating a complete loser. 

Anthony shoved the ring box back in his pocket, throwing a crumpled bill on the table he was sitting at before stumbling to his feet unsteadily. He laughed bitterly when he walked outside, seeing the stars shining brightly. "What are you so happy about?" He grumbled, completely out of it as he walked down the street. 

The tears were falling now, dripping down his face and onto the pavement below as he took long, unstable strides towards the one place he could go that wasn't home. 

Kalel opened the door after he'd been pounding on it for a while, successfully waking her up from her slumber. She was rubbing her eyes when she opened it, not even registering Anthony was crying at first. "Anthony? What're you doing here in the middle of the night?" She was fully awakened when she heard the broken sob leaving Anthony's throat.