Anthony hesitantly raised his fist to the door of Apartment 212. After a hellish night of guiltily tossing and turning, Mari had yet again called and woken him up. However, this time, he was truly thankful. She'd given him a very important and useful address and as soon as he'd scrounged up some clothes and brushed his teeth, he was out the door and headed to the Easttown Apartments. If Mari was right (and she always was) this was the key to getting Audrina — and Ian — back for good.
Taking a deep breath, he rapped lightly, waiting impatiently for someone to answer. He stood outside for a good moment before he tapped more loudly on the door. He jammed his hands into his pockets as the door swung open.
There stood Kara, the 'mother' of his child and the bane of his existence. She looked much different from the day she'd dropped Audrina off. Her hair was clean and combed into a bun, she wore makeup, and she wore a jacket and skirt with pumps. She looked professional and almost...happy.
She glared at him. "Anthony...? What are you doing here?"
He gulped in a breath quickly and before she could stop him, stepped into the apartment. His eyes scanned the room for any signs of the little girl that he and Ian had grown to love over the past few months. He thought solemnly to himself that she'd be a year old soon.
"What are you doing here?" Kara repeated, clearly growing annoyed with him.
Still looking around, he answered, "isn't it obvious? I want my daughter back."
Kara snorted. "Your daughter? You mean our daughter? And you can forget about that, Anthony. Do you know how much government aid I get from being a young, single mother? Do you think I'd just give that up?"
He stared at her for a moment, glaring. "That. That's what you're worried about losing. Some fucking food stamps and WIC? That is such shit. Does Audrina mean nothing to you?!" He threw his hands up and began to pace.
She rolled her eyes. "If you're gonna insult me, get the fuck out of my apartment. I don't have to listen to this shit."
"Where's Audrina?" he asked bluntly.
She shrugged. "Why should I tell you? All you've done is barge into my house, uninvited, I might add, and disrespected me."
"Fine," Anthony said, gritting his teeth, "will you please direct me to my daughter?"
She snorted. "Sure, thing." She directed him to a door down the small hallway. "You know, It's a good thing that you're here and not Ian. Because if he said that, I'd just laugh."
Anthony gave her a hard look before turning the knob. "Really? Because Ian was more of a father to her than I ever was and ever could be. And you know what else?" he asked, opening the door, "he's twice the mother you could ever dream of being."
Kara quirked an eyebrow, seemingly unfazed at Anthony's words. "Who the fuck are you to say that? You don't know me at all!"
He snorted. "Yeah? Well, here's what I do know: you got pregnant, had the baby and neglected her, left your kid with total strangers, took her back when she finally got settled, and now you're only keeping her to uphold your government assistance... and if I didn't know better, it's also just to spite me." He shook his head one more time before opening the door and letting himself into Audrina's nursery.
It was bland, but he was glad to see that it was functional. There was a crib, a changing table, and some drawers, which he hoped contain clean clothing. His heart absolutely broke when he looked into the crib and saw Audrina.
Her eyes were shut tight and her fists were balled at her sides. She looked tired, physically and mentally.
Anthony wanted to cry, but he fought back the tears and whispered to his daughter: "Aud-Audrina? It's me...It's Anthony. I guess you could call me Daddy now, considering I am, biologically, that is. We both know Ian's your dad in every way that counts...," he trailed off, swallowing.
Audrina's eyes opened and she looked up at Anthony with what could only be categorized as shock.
"I am so, so sorry I let this happen to you," Anthony apologized, rubbing at his eyes. "It was wrong and you didn't deserve it at all. I was a coward and I let petty things get in the way of our happiness...," he trailed off, dropping his voice down to a whisper, "but I promise you, Audrey, that I'll get you out of here. I'll get you back and you and me and Ian, we're gonna be a family. If it's the last thing I ever do, I'll do it."
He took a deep breath and reached into the crib, running his thumb along the outside of Audrina's hand. She instantly grabbed it and held it, looking up at him hopefully.
"You done?" Anthony heard from the doorway. He had to try his absolute hardest to not roll his eyes at the woman behind him.
Anthony ignored Kara, instead he looked back down at Audrina. His heart broke yet again when he saw tiny tears creeping out of her blue eyes. Blue eyes that reminded him so much of Ian's. Tears began to pool in his eyes, too, as he gently squeezed Audrina's hand.
"Anthony!" Kara snapped.
He sighed in disgust before leaning down and moving a few strands of hair out of his daughter's face, marveling at how much her hair had grown in the short time in which she'd been gone. He closed his eyes and kissed her forehead, trying his best to not drop any tears onto her. "We'll get you back," he whispered, "I promise."
With a heavy heart, he turned back to the mother of his child and reluctantly followed her back to the front room.
She flashed him a sarcastic smile. "Well, it's been nice talking to you, Anthony, but I think it's time that we part ways. For good."
Anthony swallowed. "No, I need to have another word with you." With that, he settled down on her sofa.
Kara rolled her eyes again and placed a hand on her hip. She made no moves to sit down.
"What do you want?" Anthony asked finally, eyeing her intensely.
She furrowed her brows. "What do I want? What do you mean? I just said I want you out of my house, didn't I?"
He shook his head. "That's not what I meant. I mean what do you want for Audrina?
Kara snorted, tossing her long chestnut hair over her shoulder. "I don't want shit from you. You've done quite enough. What I do want, however, is for you and your boyfriend," she sneered, "to leave me and my daughter the fuck alone."
Anthony glared at her. "For the last time, she's my daughter, too. And I want my daughter back. Look, I'll get you whatever you want: money, a house, a vacation, it doesn't matter. I don't care. I just want her back." His voice broke a little as he finished talking.
"Really?" she asked, snickering. "That's quite an offer. But it's like I said, I don't want anything from you. At all. So you might as well leave."
The older half of Smosh opened his mouth to speak again, but before he could, the front door swung open.
A blond man in khaki shorts and a plaid shirt stepped inside the apartment and walked toward Kara. "Sup, babe?" he asked, kissing the side of her head.
"Harrison!" she exclaimed, hugging him to her, "I didn't know you were coming over today."
He nodded before looking over at the sofa and eyeing Anthony skeptically. "Who's this?"
"O-oh, him?" she stuttered. "That's...that's just Anthony."
Harrison gave him another hard look before softening. "Whoa. Dude, that's Anthony Padilla. From Smosh!"
Anthony nodded. "Yep, that's me. And you are...?"
"I'm Harrison," he said, trotting over to sit beside him. "And Kara's my girlfriend."
Now, this was news. Anthony wasn't surprised that she had a boyfriend; she was beautiful. However, he was surprised that she could keep a boyfriend; her personality was not beautiful. At all.
"How do you know her?" Harrison asked.
Anthony smirked, scrutinizing Kara, who looked as though she might turn blue from worry. "Well, it just so happens that I'm that beautiful little girl in the next room's father. And I've come to pick her up."
Harrison stared at him, confused. "But I thought Audrina's dad was...was dead?" He looked over at Kara, searching for an answer.
"Well, I...you see-"
An idea hit Anthony and before Kara could explain herself, he expressed it to Harrison. "You see, Harrison, I'm gay and I've been in a relationship with my boyfriend for a while. We wanted to have a child, but we obviously can't have one alone by ourselves. Kara was kind enough to carry Audrina for us and she's also been watching her for a few weeks while my boyfriend was in the hospital. He's out now and he's perfectly healthy. So, I've come to get her and take her home. For good. Now, wasn't that kind of her?"
Harrison softened. "Oh. Wow, Kara! That was so, so sweet of you. I just don't know why you didn't say anything to me about it."
She gritted her teeth, glaring at Anthony. Finally, she smiled at Harrison and nodded. "It...It's a delicate situation, you know. Ian and Anthony are really famous with Smosh and all and didn't want it getting out."
"Ian's your boyfriend?!" Harrison exclaimed. "That's awesome! I'm so damn happy for you guys."
Anthony grinned. "Thanks, dude. It's great to see at least one person that watches our videos accepts us. But don't say anything just yet, please. We're still trying to iron out the kinks."
Harrison nodded. "Of course, of course! Yeah, I will. I'm sure it'll all work out. You need help carrying Audrina's stuff to your car?"
"Sure!" Anthony exclaimed, "just give me a second. I wanna talk to Kara for a moment."
The blond man nodded once more before disappearing into Audrina's room.
Anthony smiled at Kara. "I like him. I like him a lot."
Kara rolled her eyes, but finally just stopped and looked at him, sighing. "I love Harrison. I actually, really do. He'd never forgive me if he knew that I gave her up. And in all honesty, it's clear you guys really do love her. I don't have the patience that a child like her requires and frankly, Harrison and I will have more children, so go on, take her back. Go be with Ian. Audrina needs her. Just...Anthony, take care of our girl, okay?" He was not only surprised to hear her words, as it was very out of character for her, but also to see that there were tears in her eyes.
Impulsively, Anthony wrapped his arms around her. "I promise. And you know what? Come visit her some day," he whispered in her ear. He pulled away. "Just don't ever tell Ian or the Smosh Games crew that I hugged you. You know, you might actually be a decent person."
Kara chuckled. "Gee, thanks. Now, go. Audrina needs you."
And with that, Anthony went to get his daughter.
For good.
Well, it's coming to an end. Two more chapters to go. And those that are entering the contest, keep in mind that your one shots are due on Saturday, July 4, 2015!