Hollow (Chapter 7)
Title: Hollow
Pairings: Ian/Anthony -- One/sided, Anthony/Kalel
Ratings/Warning: PG-13; Angst, Slash, Language
Author's Notes: No hate toward Kalel, but she's a big itch in this chapter...so if you love her, proceed with caution. :)
Previous Chapters: Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6
The same ritual continued for a few weeks, with Anthony visiting Ian every day that there was visiting hours and Ian being silent for the entire session. At first, Anthony stayed silent, too, unable to keep from crying at Ian’s state. However, after a few weeks, Anthony began to talk to Ian about what was going on outside of the rehab facility. Like what was happening at the Smosh Games HQ or how their Food Battle Game was coming along. He didn’t tell Ian that he’d temporarily cancelled all of the weekly content that he and Ian put out together on their main and secondary channel. He even cancelled their two shows on Smosh Games. He couldn’t bear to shoot anything without his best friend. The fans were confused, as Anthony wouldn’t drop any hints, but he assured them that Smosh would be up and running sooner than they knew. Sure, their subscriber count dropped, but as far as Anthony was concerned, Ian was way more important.
Because Ian’s rehab was in Sacramento and Anthony lived in LA, he’d been staying at the Smosh house alone for the past few weeks to make it easier to visit Ian, much to Kalel’s dismay. She didn’t think that it was necessary for Anthony to visit Ian every single day, nor did she want him to stay in Sacramento at all.
“Melanie’s there,” she’d said, “Ian’s going to be just fine.”
But Anthony just couldn’t believe her. He and Ian had been best friends since high school and he’d never exhibited this behavior. Worst of all,
Anthony was certain that he had something to do with Ian’s behavior. Despite the fact that Ian still wouldn’t speak to him, he just had to get to the bottom of it. He knew that Ian would do the same for him, which made it all the more important.
The day that Ian finally spoke to Anthony was also the day that Anthony got into the worst argument with Kalel that they’d ever had. Since there weren’t visiting opportunities at the rehab on weekends, Anthony had opted to fly back to LA to be with Kalel. When Monday came around, he was
up early and packed, ready for another full week with Ian.
Anthony had been sliding on his shoes when Kalel had sauntered into the room with their cats, Kabuki and Pip, trailing behind her.
“Where are you going?” she asked, tapping her foot against the hardwood.
“I’m heading out to Sacramento,” he replied, “I wanna get there before visiting hours so that I can drop my stuff off at the Smosh house.”
He could tell right away that he’d said something wrong. Her eyebrows furrowed and her eyes narrowed to the floor. “Why are you leaving again?”
she asked, an edge to her voice.
“Because,” Anthony answered, “Ian’s my best friend and-”
“And I’m your wife,” Kalel interjected, “and you’ve been neglecting the hell out of me lately.”
Anthony’s jaw dropped. He was totally gobsmacked at how incredibly selfish Kalel was being. “That’s...Look, I’m sorry, but-”
“No, you’re not,” she spat, “if you were, you’d stay home. Ian’s fine, but we won’t be if you keep running off to him.”
He frowned, staring at her, a look of utter confusion passing over his face. “Kalel, why are you doing this?”
She rolled her eyes up to the ceiling. “I’ve being second to Ian for our entire relationship, Anthony! Whether it be because of Smosh or your house
or an event or the Smosh Games crap, some shit with Melanie, or whatever it is! Ian calls and you run to him. You never do that for me!”
He sighed, running a hand through his dark locks. “Kalel, Ian’s my best friend,” he repeated.
“Is he?” she asked, a hand on her hip, “he wasn’t there to send us off to the honeymoon, he got drunk at the wedding, and he never called during
the honeymoon. And,” she went on, “he brought Melanie to our wedding!” she said Melanie’s name as if it were bitter and tasted wrong on her tongue.
Anthony shook his head. “Maybe he was in the bathroom during the sendoff and maybe he got drunk because speaking at the wedding made him
nervous,” Anthony could relate to this due to his similar bouts with intense anxiety. “He has ADHD, you know? And Kalel, maybe he didn’t call
because he didn’t want to disturb us!”
Kalel chuckled, angrily. “Whatever, Anthony. Just whatever.”
Despite her biting words, Anthony continued to defend his best friend. “And Melanie is important to Ian and I, regardless of how you feel about her.
She’s been our friend for over seven years. I thought you’d understand that, I really did. Hell, she used to be your best friend in the world!” Then he glanced down, “but you ruined that, didn’t you?”
Kalel turned away, knowing full well that this conversation had inched its way to her being in the wrong and she simply couldn’t handle that.
“Whatever,” she repeated, green eyes drifting to the floor, “just go to Ian for fuck’s sake. You will, anyway.”
Anthony shrugged. “Fine.”
He slammed the door on his way out and never looked back.