Raising Anti

16

That was a few years ago. Sure Anti never stopped those lessons, and Trey never stopped going. They became really close during those two years. So it wasn't surprising to note that seeing him again after a month of no contact made him a bit nervous.

"Oh, this is perfect." Trey laughed softly as he pulled a shirt off a rack. Anti froze up in his spot as he went to reach out only to hesitate. Maybe he should go back? Maybe he shouldn't make it worse for Chase? When he gets big again things are gonna go back to how they were. Maybe it wasn't a good idea to let the two parents know that he actually hangs out and gets along with Trey. Trey went to go to a different rack only to freeze the moment he spun around to see Anti there. His eyes narrowed as Anti quickly avoided eye contact and shifted back. He hugged the grey hoodie that was a few sizes too big closer to himself making Trey's eyes narrow. "That's my old hoodie. What..." Anti glitched slightly causing Trey to gasp. "SAM?!"

"H-H-Hey T-Trey." Anti was stunned. Trey had immediately pulled the younger into a hug as he held back the tears that wanted to come out. "T-Trey... No... No touch. No..." Anti squirmed a bit in Trey's arms as the older laughed and pulled away. "No touch. I no... I no like it."

"I know. I'm sorry." Trey beamed as he let the younger go with a laugh. "It's just I was seriously worried, bro."

"Spelled..." Anti groaned as he held his arms out to the side as a half gesture to himself. Trey frowned as Anti mumbled under his breath. "Hate... Not... Not fun at all."

"What happened?" Anti shrugged as he shifted about swaying his hips slightly just to move. Trey frowned more noticing the ticks his brother often had when he was younger. "I was worried, Sam. You vanished on me for a month. I even freaked out about it to my mother."

"What?" Trey nodded as he shrugged. "Why?"

"You never miss a meetup. I was scared something happened to you. So when you didn't show up I started to panic. As the days went on and you still didn't contact me... Mom noticed I was jumpy and on edge. She tried to confront me about it and.. I sort of... Snapped like dad does." Trey awkwardly scratched the back of his neck with an anxious smile. "I totally ripped her a new one verbally. I honestly think I scared her a bit but she latched on to what I was saying about you. The shock in her eyes caught me off guard a bit."

"You no... You no told her about... this right? About us meeting... about the promise?" Trey's eyes fell making anti whimper slightly in anxiety.

"Hey, it's ok, bro. She was worried yes but... I sat her down. I spoke to her. Gray and I both explained what really happened." Anti frowned as his anxiety burned through him bad. "She's not mad."

"Not mad?" Trey nodded as Anti bit his lip slightly. "B-But... She no like Anti. N-No one l-likes me."

"I like you." Anti let out a soft breath as Trey just smiled. "Gray likes you too. In fact, he's a bit jealous of how much I've got to hang with you." Anti giggled softly as he shook his head surprising the older by how bright and soft the small giggle was.

"Stupid... You don't n-need to b-be jealous." He giggled again inciting a soft laugh from the other as the two just stood there happily being together. "This is fun." Trey nodded as he nudged Anti's shoulder a bit.

"Not as fun as kicking your ass when you're bigger." Anti gasped playfully as he ran around hiding in the clothes. "Sam? What..."

"You can't beat me, if you can't find me." Anti glitched out appearing in a different clothes pile as Trey looked in the other. Anti giggled making Trey turn around with a competitive smirk.

"Oh, really." Anti hummed as he glitched out again moving to a new one as he whispered. 

"You no find me." Trey paused hearing Anti glitch out again and he laughed.

"You forget, bro... I was taught by the best." Trey suddenly pulled the clothes way to see Anti glitching in and he smiled seeing Anti's eyes go wide. "You're not as quiet as you think."

"No fair. I'm small." Trey burst out into laughter as Anti struggled to pull himself out of the rack. "You can't beat me. I'm too little." He ran off giggling again as Trey just rolled his eyes playfully. "I'm too cute to die!"

"Get back here!"

"No!" Anti beamed as he ran behind Chase laughing excitedly as he gipped Chase's jeans. "Protect me, Chase!"

"Protect you. Protect you from..."

"Sam!" Trey froze up eyes wide the moment he spotted his father standing there. "Dad." Trey shot his mother this confused look before looking down at Anti and smiling. "Of course, He's the one watching you."

"Trey? I didn't know you were here." Stacy laughed softly as she glanced over to see Anti peaking his head out around Chase's leg with a small smile.

"Protect me, Chase!" Anti beamed as Trey stuck his tongue out. "Trey says he's gonna beat me."

"Oh come on. That's no fair." Anti giggled as he shot the older a stink face. Trey jumped to try and get him but Anti quickly ran off only to hide behind Stacy shocking all of them. 

"You no catch me. I'm to fast. Mwahahaha!" Anti laughed as he dropped to a crawl and hind by the cart. "I'm too small. Can't catch me." Anti shot the woman a bright smile as he moved the cart slightly to guard him better. "Protect me, Stacy!"

"Trey, no fighting the child." Anti giggled louder as Trey gave a fake pout. Stacy just smiled seeing the two so happy.

"Haha. You got yelled at." Anti sat with a bright grin that made Chase smile a little too. It wasn't often that you got to see such a bright happy expression from the smaller.

"Ok, Sam... I think it's time for us to go." Trey jumped as Chase walked over to pick the small child up. 

"Wait, but  we never got to take or..." Chase just smiled as he glanced over at Stacy cutting Trey off. 

"Don't worry about, Kiddo. If all goes well, we'll have more time to take this weekend." Trey's eyes filled with tears as he met with his mother's smile.

"Wait... You mean it. I... We're gonna be with dad over the weekend?" Stacy nodded making Trey slam into his father hugging him and Anti tightly as he cried. Anti just smiled sadly as he looked at the two holding him. 

"Don't cry." Anti whispered making Trey chuckle a bit. "We see you again? Right?" Chase beamed as he nodded.

"Yeah, Sam. We'll be seeing him again real soon."