Chapter Text
Angel Dust could’ve picked anyone out of all of Hell. Yet, no matter how hard he tried to convince his heart otherwise, his heart belonged to only one. Husk, and he didn’t even know it. All those fake flirty lines and facades that Angel put on for him, he saw right through. Husk didn’t care about Angel Dust, the pornstar, he cared about Angel Dust, the one who’s broken, the one who decided to tell Husk why he’s so fake, the one where Angel Dust, for the first time in centuries felt like his old self. Anthony.
Maybe that’s why Angel fell so fucking hard for him, not just because he was hot, (although who could argue that Husk isn’t his type) but because he actually cared.
If you told Angel that he would fall in love with that grumpy old cat bartender, he would’ve laughed at you right in the face. Now, after telling Husk his entire story, Husk, seeing first hand how bad Valentino treats him, and fighting side by side together against the angels, Angel wasn’t so sure what he felt for the old bartender.
He wanted it to be love, like what they said in fairytales where the prince falls in love with the princess, but he already made that mistake once with Valentino. Thinking it was love.
So, he hid his feelings. Locking them away from everyone, even himself. But no matter how hard he tried to convince himself that he didn’t love Husk, his mind always decided to wander back to him.
Angel knew he had to do something when Valentino noticed. He was not only distracted, but sleep deprived too from tossing and turning in his bed, thinking about him. Valentino is pretty stupid, but he’s not a complete idiot. He could notice the bags under Angels eyes and how tired and distracted he seemed.
Instead of helping him, he gave Angel double the shifts and forced him to do more work.
At one point, Angel couldn’t take anymore. He knew he had feelings for Husk and it was killing him not to tell anyone. But who could he tell? Cherri would be mortified at the fact that he fell in love with another Overlord, (even though he’s an ex-overlord) and that was about all the friends he had.
Well, he could tell Charlie. After the old hotel got destroyed, Charlie was super busy rebuilding and refurbishing the new hotel. She also wanted to make sure to make a better impression than last time and not just be “Lucifer’s bimbo daughter”. Angel didn’t want to be a bother, but on the other hand, his shifts were getting worse and worse and it won’t be long before he finally breaks.
One day, Angel came back to the hotel after a long shift. He was tired and pissed off at Valentino for making him work twice as hard just for being tired already.
He came face to face with Husk, who was completely and out of his mind worried. For him? Angel didn’t believe him. After all, it was Husk’s fault in the beginning that he had to work double his normal work load.
So he flipped. He started screaming, crying at how his work was Husk’s fault and that it was his fault he was broken. All of which was not true, and Angel knew it. He was just so, angry.
Before he could stop himself he threw a bottle towards Husk’s head. Angel didn’t think it would hit him. But he was wrong. Husk staggered back a bit, but instead of yelling at Angel like anyone else would, he gave him a pitying look and started to walk back towards him. He was trying to calm Angel down, knowing how hard he has it.
Angel stared at him, shaking like a leaf. Why isn’t Husk pushing him away? He hurt him. He should scream at him, he should hit him back or something. So why isn’t he?
He knew that Husk had to be angry. There was no way he couldn’t be. Yet, when he looked into Husk’s eyes, not a single glimpse of hate came through. More like pity or sadness.
Husk kept trying to get closer, eventually gently holding Angel’s hand. The second that Husk touched him though, Angel ran. He ran through the hallway and towards his room. Tears were pouring down his face. Valentino, and all of those stupid memories flashed through his eyes. Why couldn’t they just all go away? Why did he have to push away the one person who actually cared about him?
The new hotel was much bigger than the old one, nearly twice as big. It would be easy to get lost, if you didn’t know exactly where you were going.
Outside of Charlie’s office, Angel hesitated. Should he even knock? Would she care?
He took in a deep shaky breath and knocked, once, then twice.
“Come in!” The cheerful, gentle voice of Charlie came through from the other side.
Angel turned the knob, shaking still. He slowly opened the door, wincing as it creaked open.
Charlie’s expression turned, sad? “Angel, what’s wrong?” She asked, worry clouding her eyes.
Angel swallowed and took another shaky breath.
“Charlie,” His voice breaking with emotion, “I fucked up.”