Why is Love so Hard? |BENDY X HENRY| (OLD)

Scrambled Eggs Taste Like Guilt.

I choke down a few breaths, rubbing my now sore neck. The ink demon awkwardly shifts from foot to foot, a guilty grimace on his face. I give him a weak smile.

I take another deep breath in, the small smile still on my face as I look at him. "Sorry for startling you like that...ah...I should really know better than that now..."

He sighs and rubs his neck. "Nah, you're tha one who almost got strangled, If anything, I should be apologizing to ya."

We stare at each other in awkward silence, but then Linda yells that breakfast is ready, causing the ink demon to jump and curse.

"Quick question, where the fuck are we- and follow up question can I kill that person?"

I chuckle slightly. "1, we're at Linda's house, and 2, no you may not kill Linda."

He shrugs, and I go over to look out the window, only to see ordinary vans outside. "Bud, those aren't cop cars, they're literally just appliance vans. The person across the street is just getting their house remodeled or something."

The demon stared at me. "Well just where the hell are the cops then? How did ya avoid them when I passed out?"

"I got in my car in the studios parking lot, and dragged you in there, and everyone else just hotwired their old cars and drove here, while the cops arrested Joey or something, because apparently after your speech everyone called the cops."

"No way, you're ripping off my leg! I would've killed to see that!" A large grin spread across Bendy's face, and I found myself grinning too.

"Yeah, it was crazy! You would've loved it!"

The ink demon scooped me up, a large grin on his face, then Linda suddenly walked into the room and his grip tightened to an uncomfortable degree on my hips.

Linda smiles, but a confused look is on her face. "You guys practicing some dance choreography or something?"

Instead of relaxing at Lindas kind tone, the demon seems more defensive than ever. I chuckle, trying to break the ice between them. "Not really."

Feeling Bendy's claws dig into my skin, I squirm uncomfortably. "Is breakfast ready then?"

Linda smiles warmly. "Yup! Your favorite!"

I nod. "Thanks Linda, you don't know how much we need this.."

She steps closer to me and gives me a kiss on the cheek before I can stop her.

The ink demon dumps me onto the floor.

"Whoopsy." He mutters passive aggressively, exiting the room. His tail whacks the wall on the way out, causing a glass figurine of an angel on the shelf above to fall and shatter.

She raises an eyebrow. "Should I be concerned about him? He looks a bit dangerous...no offence intended."

I sighed, pulling myself off of the floor. "Linda, I um, have something important I need to tell you."

The woman laughs and shakes her head, "Always so serious Henry, let's eat breakfast before we get into anything ok?"

Swallow a knot in my throat I continue. "No, I really do have to tell you-"

"God Henry, I'm too hungry to listen right now ok? Tell me later after we eat." Linda says, grabbing my hand and opening the door.

The rest of the gang is already sitting at the table eating when me and Linda walk in, devouring bowls of cereal.

I sit down at the table across from the ink demon and he looks at me with an overjoyed expression. It's clearly forced, and everyone at the table can already feel the tension is almost at its breaking point.

Linda gets the eggs from the counter, placing a plate in front of me. She takes a place next to me, and starts eating her own scrambled eggs.

"Sorry that the rest of you have to eat cereal, I would make everyone some eggs, but I think I'd need a farm to do that!"

Everyone laughs, but the ink demon laughs the loudest. His distorted laughter fills the kitchen, everyone who actually knows him growing concerned.

"Eh he he, Oh it's fine Linda, I really don't mind. Not. At. All." The last is more directed at me than Linda, but she doesn't appear to notice.

The ink demon folds his arms, a large smile on his face."So Linda, I don't believe we've had the pleasure of a proper introduction yet! Do you mind telling me a little about yourself and Henry, he's never mentioned you before."

Linda smiles, putting her fork down. "Me and Henry have known each other for quite some time, I believe we met in high school, isn't that right dear?"

He gazes at me with faux interest, making me feel like a slimy rat. "U-uh, yep. That would be right."

"We were friends, then became sweethearts the senior year, ever since then we've been dating!" The woman chuckles. "So I guess I'm Henry's bride to be. Isn't that cute?"

Everyone at the table is nervously staring at the ink demon, wondering how he'll take the news.

He leans forward in his chair and pats Linda's hand. "Congratulations on your relationship, You're very lucky."

There's an exhale of relief at the table, and everyone visibly relaxes.

"So what about you guys? Mind telling me about yourselves and how you know my sweet-heart here?" She smiles, leaning over and giving me another kiss on the cheek.

I feel like stone, not being able to move away, because then she would ask why, but not wanting the demon to think I'd just been using him.

The inky demon grabs his paper cup to take a drink, but crushes it in his hand, water splashing onto the table. "Sorry about that, could I have something to clean this up?"

Linda reaches back, ripping off a sheet of paper towel. "Thanks." He replies cheerfully, wiping up the water.

Alice clears her throat. "We know Henry from work, I'm Alice, I am well- was, a voice actor, Sammy here was a composer, and all the other people were workers. Thanks for paying for their hotel rooms by the way, you really didn't have to."

The woman nods. "It's the least I can do for you all after I heard what happened. And you sir?"

The demon seemed to snap back into focus. "Oh, me? I'm the ink demon, and well, let's just say I was a dear, close friend of Henry here."

She smiles kindly. "Nice to meet you all."

Things turn quiet again, but the air is still thick with tension. I try to enjoy my scrambled eggs, but they leave a bad taste in my mouth.

Scrambled eggs never tasted more like guilt.