Anyone but Him

Friends stick together

Hours. It's been hours that Anna has been dragging me to every store possible but now we're heading to lunch. We stop by and grab some fast food before just eating in the car.

"Alright. Humor me. What the actual fuck was that this morning?" I froze mid bite into my burger, "We're alone in a car eating your comfort food. Speak up." So that's why she got me my favorite fast food and we're in the car.

"Fine. Let's start at the beginning. My mother's a bitch who thinks I'm fat and a disappointment and lets my sister abuse me however she wants and will sometimes join in but it's mostly just emotional abuse on her part." I look up at Anna and she that's she's planning ways to hide a body, "Breathe please." She takes a deep breath and looks at me again, "Now my sister is the real piece of work. She loves my pain. It's her sense of 'fun' and her favorite 'game'. Normally it's a push here and there, maybe a few kicks to the gut, but this time a few things were said at dinner last night. Dad is a little too smart for his own good. He complimented my hair and I said I didn't pay for it because I spent all my money on my dress. He wasn't believing that shit. Long story short he's onto my mom and sister's shit and that terrifies them. Little do they know that my dad's been sitting on the sidelines observing. That dude knows fucking everything about me and now he wants me to take over the company when he leaves. The guy that's coming over tomorrow is a business partner and he wants me to do the talking. That's my story and now I have two puppies. All in the span of three days I got beat up, asked to take over a company, and got two sick foster puppies." She was silent for minutes and I kept eating until I had no more food, "Ok Anna say something."

"Holy shit, ok, I'm killing two people and hugging your father." I just laughed, "In all seriousness how do you feel about all of this Ari? You've been hiding this all along? I would always be there for you. Please, if anything happens please tell me. And what about all of this business stuff?"

"I've been waiting for my 21st birthday so that I could get out of all this shit. As my mother says '18 to 21 is the prime age to get married'. That's the only reason she's kept me around. That and using me as a punching bag. She may hate me but if she can use me to get money you bet your ass she would give me away without a second thought." I checked the time and saw that I had 30 minutes left before I had to get home, "On another note we need to stop by your place to get the rest of my clothes from shopping, the get the puppies, I also have to stop by the bank if you don't mind."

"Of course I don't mind. Ari please know that I love you." I just smiled at her and said I know and with that we were headed to the bank.

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"Is this it?" I looked at the back of Anna's trunk that was now filled with everything dog related you could think of.

"Yup, all that's left are the puppies. They love you. They've been winning ever since you left." I just smiled and grabbed the leashes and collars from Brandon before going and getting my babies.

The second I walked into the room I was surrounded by puppies. Blue and grey were right in front of all of the other puppies and I just laughed, "Ok guys, let's go home." I put the leashes on them but quickly realized that they followed me around even without the leashes but just to be safe I kept them on.

Once the puppies were loaded into the car I gave Brandon a small hug before Anna brought us home. The puppies wouldn't sit in the back seat so I had one on the floor in front of me and the other on my lap. Soon we pulled up to my house and I could see that my mom's and sister's cars were there and that made this way easier.

"Alright come on guys. Lets get you to my room." I walked into the house and dropped their leashes. I don't think they noticed nor did they care. They just fallowed me to my room. I put them in my bathroom and closed the door before I went and helped Anna bring all of the bags in and all of the puppy stuff. Once everything was in my room Anna sat down on my bed while I let the puppies out.

"They truly do love you. Look at that, they're off leash and they still are at your ankles." As we laughed I heard a knock on my bedroom door and both of the puppies hid behind me as I told the person to come in.

"I'm guessing you both had a fun day and it's nice to see you again Anna. Come over more often, we never see you anymore and I know it would make Aryanna happy." My father stood in my doorway smiling at me and Anna before his eyes drop to the puppies that were still hidden behind me, "Who might these cuties be?"

"This is grey and blue. The shelter said I could choose the names but for now I'm just going off the color of their collars." He nodded before holding his hand out. Blue looked at grey before he slowly walked towards my dad. He sniffed dad's hand and his floppy ears perked up a bit. He wagged his tail and looked back at grey. Grey walked towards my dad and let him pet them.

"You were right. They're adorable. I've always wanted dogs but your mother hates them. If she says ANYTHING about these cuties tell her to come to me and I'll deal with her." I just nodded, "Anna we're having dinner soon if you'd like to stay."

"That'd be amazing sir. I'd love to." My dad smiled at her and left the room. Anna just turned to me, "Ok, seriously, is he ok? That's the most I've seen him smile in the entire time I've known him." I just shrugged.

"I don't know. What I do know is that the pups need a bath and the shampoo is in one of those bags so start digging." She just laughed and started going through bags.

By the time we found it five minutes had already passed. Anna has helped out at the shelter with me and knows how to handle dogs so she ended up helping me wash the pups. Once they were clean and dried off I took a shower then Anna did. As soon as we were done my dad knocked on the door again saying that dinner is done. I opened my bedroom door and started to go downstairs. I kept an eye on the pups making sure they don't run off. As soon as I entered the dining room I heard a chair fall.

"What the hell are those THINGS doing in MY house?!" I just stared at my mom with a raised eyebrow and turned to my dad who let out a sigh.

"Katherine SIT DOWN!" I flinched at my fathers tone and my mom quickly sat down, "Now, Kat these are the puppies that Aryanna is going to be fostering until they get better. They will be following Aryanna everywhere she goes which doesn't look like a problem considering they're sitting at her feet without a leash or collar." He looked at the puppies who sat right next to me, "If there is any problem with them please bring it to me and I can deal with it. Now back to dinner. Tomorrow my business partner is coming and I want you all to look and act your best. It'll be an early morning so Anna if you'd like to spend the night that's fine but you'll be waking up early."

"That's fine sir. Ari told me that it's really important so I figured I'd help her get ready in the morning." He smiled at her while my sister and mother glared at her.

"That would be amazing and I'm sure Aryanna would love that. Now that that's all figured out Lexi you'll have a family friend come and get you ready. After she's done with Lexi she'll get you ready as well Kat. We all need to be ready by 11:00. Aryanna I trust that the puppies will be well behaved and clean." I nodded and looked around. Everyone was finished with their food and my mom and sister were still glaring at me, "That's all. Girls get some sleep." With that he left.

"So, Aryanna you got puppies." My mother glared at me and you could hear the edge in her words, "Isn't that lovely Lexi?"

"It's amazing. Congrats Ari. What guy did you have to fuck to get them?" She gave me the fakest smile she could have.

"Really Lexi. Don't be a bitch just because Ari is actually doing something with her life and not fucking any guy with muscles and a dick." With that Anna drug me out of the room with the puppies on our heels.

"Thank you Anna but I could've handled it." She stopped and gave me a hug.

"Yes you could've but I wanted to so it sucks to be you. Let's get you some beauty rest. Not that you need it. I'll take the pups out to go to the bathroom and be right up."

She left with the pups and I went up to bed. After a few minutes I heard my bedroom door open and felt Anna help the pups onto my bed before she laid down on the other side of the bed with the pups in between us.

"Thank you Anna for being such a good friend." She grabbed my hand and smiled before we both went to sleep.