Criminal Love

Home (Final Chapter)

It took nearly a week for Lifty to be healthy enough to leave the hospital. Being shot tends to make you weaker than if you weren't laying around with a bullet in the gut. He didn't visit anyone, not even Flaky, after being released. The thief and his brother both half-expected to have Splendid track them down and arrest them.

Or kill them.

Or both.

Although Lifty was more worried about a certain someone that scared him even more than the blue-haired hero. Flaky. He didn't have the guts to see Flaky again, even though after everything all seemed to be good between them. He had a felt weird feeling in his stomach whenever he thought about that redhead, not like the feeling he got when he was first in Flaky's care all those weeks ago. But it felt like something different, something stronger that both terrified him and made him felt happy. He tried to ignore though, brushing it off as the start of a weird illness or something. But it wasn't really any type of illness that was making the green-eyed thief feel this way.

It was love.

X X X

As soon as Lifty walked through the door of his and Shifty's house. He just now noticed how different it felt and looked from Flaky's house like he was seeing the house through a new perspective. He looked around at certain things in the house. While the twin's couch was old and worn reeking of old food and sweat, Flaky's couch was probably brand new by the looks of it, smelling slightly like the girl's perfume whenever he slept on it. The wallpaper on the walls of his house was cracked and peeling off at the edges, and Flaky's were as white and pristine as the rest of her home. Their carpet was stained with what looked like blood and soda, the redhead's carpet was always soft and clean, like walking on a cloud. His house had Shifty. Flaky's had her.

This house might have been the one he lived in his whole life in, but it was home. Home was with the people who cared about him, the people who loved him. Though he loved Shifty, he was his brother after all, he also loved Flaky.

Oh.

Oh, shit.

The realization came to him while he was slumped on the old couch, watching an old black and white movie on the twin's crappy television a few days after his stay in the hospital. He sat straight up, as though that single thought had sent a shock through his body. His eyes grew wide and he ran a hand through his forest-colored hair, mumbling softly to himself.

"I love Flaky. . ."

And then as though someone was listening in on his words and waiting for their cue, a knock on the front door sounded that caused Lifty to jump in surprise at the sound. He rose from his human-shaped indent in his couch, making his way through the run-down house towards the front door. He pulled it open and his heart nearly stopped when he saw Flaky standing there, a small smile lighting up her face when she saw he had answered.

"Hey, L-Lifty."

Lifty was still a bit taken aback by the redhead's sudden and quite convenient appearance right after he confessed, but quickly snapped out of it and put on a smile, "Hey, Red. How ya doin'?"

"I'm fine. I need to tell you something t-though,' Flaky was more than nervous as she fidgeted in place and chewed on her bottom lip, "Something i-important."

Lifty could hear and feel his heartbeat going a million miles an hour in his ears as he didn't answer, instead mentally screaming as he freaked out overhearing that, seeing how nervous the girl suddenly got. He managed to spit out a reply, despite his moth and throat starting to feel like a desert.

"Okay, shoot."

"I love you, Lifty."

Lifty's mouth dropped down and his heart nearly exploded at the bluntness of Flaky's own confession. He watched as she turned beet red and covered her face with her hands, not even waiting for an answer before starting to go off on another ramble again.

"I know, I k-know. It's weird. We've only really started to get to k-know each other a couple of weeks ago. And things didn't g-go so well in the end," Flaky uncovered her face, a small smile on her face, "But, I wouldn't c-change those last few weeks for anything in the w-world."

"I. . .I. . ."

Lifty stopped as he realized couldn't find the right words to answer her. So he didn't use words to tell her how he felt. He showed her. Hands trailed up to cup her face as he leaned in close, he locked eyes with the redhead before closing the gap between their lips in a soft slow kiss. That strange feeling he felt earlier came back like a tidal wave, crashing down and soaking him in its intoxicating buzz. He pulled away reluctantly from the kiss as he kind of need to breathe. Both of them were red in the face and Lifty had his trademark grin on as he eyed the girl.

"I think it's time to go home, don't you think?"

X X X

After gathering up some of his personal things, Lifty explained the situation to his brother. Shifty didn't seem to upset about his brother leaving again, instead just gave him a small smile and a playful punch on the shoulder.

"Just don't forget about your big brother too soon. Okay?"

Lifty smiled and slapped his brother on the back, "Oh, how could I forget about the guy who shot me?"

"You're never gonna let me live that down, are you?"

Lifty grinned, "Never."

Then it was time to go. Lifty and Flaky piled into her small red car and started the drive back home. They made it back to Flaky's house and the thief was about to open his door to get out when he was stopped by Flaky locking the doors. He frowned and stared at her, confused.

"Why'd you lock in the door, Flakes?"

"Just stay here for a second. Okay?"

Then before Lifty could even question the girl, Flaky unlocked her own door and hopped out, bolting towards her house and leaving the confused man in her passenger seat. He counted the seconds as they ticked by, waiting for her to return from whatever it was she was doing. Lifty got up in the hundreds before he noticed Flaky coming back. He opened his door and eyed the girl as she grabbed his arm, starting to pull him around towards her backyard. He questioned her as he followed her.

"Why'd you make me wait?"

"You'll see."

"Why are we going into the backyard?"

"You'll see."

Lifty was about to open his mouth to ask another question when the backyard came into view and he shut up quickly. Standing in the girl's backyard was every single townsperson. Nutty, Flippy, Lammy, Giggles, Lumpy, everyone was here. They all stood under a banner that hung in the trees, and he noticed the words that were painted on.

"You're A Good Bad Guy, Lifty!"

Lifty grinned at the words and turned his gaze to Flaky, who was watching the thief's face for his reaction. She smiled brightly as she giggled.

"S-Surprise!"

"What's all this?"

"Everyone heard about how you saved Flaky and Flippy in the museum," Giggles stepped forward, a genuine smile on her face as she answered the man's question.

Flippy nodded, finishing her sentence, "And Flaky wanted us to throw you a party, another one, to show you that we were wrong about you. You actually aren't that bad after all, Lifty."

Lifty didn't answer, instead just choosing to smile as he realized what was going on. Where he was right now, with all of his friends and the redhead who made it all possible. He knew exactly where he was.

He was home.