| Plaything | Antisepticeye x Reader

Chapter 21: Colum

I leave at 3:55 exactly, and get to the theater at 4:00. Outside, I see Colum waiting for me. When I reach him, he gives me a small hug. The 'A' flares.

"C'mon," he says. "Marius and Claude are inside."

We head in, finding that the two boys had already gotten popcorn. They both give me hugs, but the 'A' burns a bit less than it had before. It's probably because we're all together.

Heading into the theater, I'm placed in between Colum – who's on my left – and Claude – who's on my right. On the other side of Claude is Marius. I close my eyes and cross my fingers for a few moments, hoping that all goes according to plan. None of the others would understand, but there's a lot at stake, here.

About twenty minutes into the movie, I glance over and find that Claude and Marius are holding hands.

Shit. Did I just walk into a double date? When the hell did they get together?

I stop focusing on the movie, worried that Colum will attempt to make a move and get himself killed. As an anxiety outlet, I begin lightly tapping my right foot on the popcorn-littered ground.

About forty minutes later, Colum tries to put his arm around my shoulders. Unwilling to sit through burning pain for another hour, I turn my head towards him slightly to show that I'd noticed the movement. As I planned, his bashfulness instantly engages and he pretends to be stretching.

Finally, the movie ends. I'm the first one of the group to stand. We move on to a nearby restaurant to get dinner. Colum, of course, volunteers to sit next to me in the booth we're escorted to.

As we exit the restaurant, Marius says, "We'd better get going. Claude's staying at my place tonight and we still have to pick up his stuff from his house. Bye!"

With that, the two boys walk off, winking at Colum. Shit. The 'A' begins glowing, just dim enough to not shine through my shirt. My mind scrambles for an excuse to leave as well.

"I'm actually pretty tired. Didn't get enough sleep last night. I should probably get going, too."

Colum interjects, "Wait! Um, before you do, there's something I need to tell you."

I turn back around, cursing his persistence. In other circumstances, I might've accepted and begun a relationship with him. However, my life isn't exactly open to new members, at the moment.

Suddenly, I feel a tingle run down my spine, and the air feels colder. The feeling is familiar, one that constantly plagues my house. Before I can look for him, an Irish man in a dark shirt and hoodie approaches us. There is a faint pink line across his neck, one that you wouldn't notice if you didn't know to look for it. His eyes are cold and usually look blue – one of them looks green if you stare at it for too long.

"[Y/N], hey. I was hoping you'd be here," Anti says, causing Colum to turn around and regard the new arrival. Luckily, Colum doesn't really watch YouTube that often, and only knows about Jacksepticeye from what I've told him. Anti completely ignores Colum and gives me a knowing look.

"Hi," Colum says politely. "I don't think we've met. I'm Colum. You're one of [Y/N]'s friends, I'm assuming?"

The demon's eyes finally slide from mine to my friends, beginning to overflow with contempt. Colum tenses under Anti's gaze, but still awaits an answer. I pinch the bridge of my nose, feeling the weight of how wrong everything's gone.

"Yeah," Anti answers. "I'm her boyfriend." My blood runs cold and I freeze, looking up at Anti.

"No he's not," I immediately retort, earning a sharp glare from him. Colum's shoulders had slumped, but now he straightens. To remedy the situation, I quickly add, "He's just overprotective whenever I'm alone with another guy. His name's... Anthony."