Criminal Love

The Nicest Mean Person

The next couple of days went by and Flaky couldn't see any changes in the thief from Flippy's actions from earlier, save for a bruise had started to form on Lifty's hand where the book repeatedly struck it. Now the two friends were sitting in Flaky's living room, Lifty sprawled out on the couch with his eyes half shut as they watched an old sitcom playing on the television.

Even though it seemed Lifty was completely zoned out, in reality, his mind was going in overdrive. He kept trying to figure out why exactly Flaky let him stay here for so long, seeing as she knew who he was and what he did. It just didn't make any sense to the kleptomaniac, the girl was too trusting. He could've been a rapist, or a murderer, on top of being a thief. And she just let him in her home, allowed herself to get comfortable around him. Maybe he needed to teach her that everyone in the world wasn't as good as her little soldier was.

And as if on cue to put his plan in action, Flaky got up from her spot and lightly shook him, thinking he was asleep.

"Lifty," she whispered, "Wake up. . ."

"Huh?" Lifty let out a yawn, pretending he had been fast asleep and blinked a few times as he sat up, "Whaddya want?"

"I-I'm gonna make something for dinner. Is there anything in p-particular you want?"

Lifty put a hand to his chin, pretending to think for a moment before shrugging. "I don't care. Whatever you want, I guess."

Flaky nodded and left, heading down the hall towards the kitchen. Lifty waited a few minutes before getting up himself and creeping towards the kitchen door, his footsteps making no noise on the floor as he snuck. He stood in the doorway of the kitchen and watched Flaky, who had her back to him, reach for a box of pasta in a cupboard. He cleared his throat and she squeaked in surprise, dropping the pasta on the ground. She whirled around and saw him, she let out a shaky sigh.

"L-Lifty, you scared me!" The girl bent down to pick up the fallen box and set it back on the counter, "I didn't hear you come i-in. Did you-"

"Why did you help me?"

Flaky was taken aback by his abrupt interruption and stuttered out, "W-What?"

"You heard me," Lifty crossed his arms as he walked closer towards her, "Why'd you help me?"

"I couldn't just leave you out in the r-rain."

"You could've. I mean, have you met me?" Lifty frowned, not hearing the answer he was hoping for, "I'm not a good person. Hell, some might even call me mean. So why help out a mean person?"

Flaky shook her head, "Well, I am a good person. A-And I always help people out, no matter what they a-are. And I d-don't think you're mean."

"You don't think I'm mean?"

"No, I- Eep!"

In the middle of Flaky's sentence, Lifty closed the gap between them with surprising speed, outstretching his arms and placing his hands on either side of the girl on the countertop, effectively trapping Flaky between him and the counter. She looked at him, worry and slight fear in her crimson eyes.

"Lifty? W-What are you doing?"

Lifty chose to ignore her question and instead leaned in closer to her. Their faces were nearly touching, making Flaky turn beet red at the two's close proximity.

"You really shouldn't let strange people into your house, Flaky. You never know what they truly are," A grin formed on his lips as he moved his head to whisper in her ear, "Or what they'd do to you."

Flaky could feel the fear growing in her chest as Lifty pressed his body against hers, squishing the female's small body against the counter. She ignored the pain in her lower back as she kept eye contact with him, knowing that he wouldn't do anything. She knew he was a good person. She just knew it.

"L-Lifty, this is hurting me. G-Get off me p-please."

"Just say I'm mean and I'll let you go."

Flaky shook her head, "You're j-just trying to s-scare me. I-It's not gonna work, L-Lifty"

The fact that the girl's stuttering getting worse as time went on said that it indeed was working.

Soon all traces of humor left the thief's face as he eyed the timid redhead before him, watching her squirm in place. He raised one of his hands to her face and pressed his thumb and forefinger into her soft cheek.

"You should know that not everyone's as sweet and innocent as your friendly soldier boy. Some of us are mean, cruel people who take what they want. People like me."

Then instead of whining or crying as he thought she would, Flaky started to laugh softly, a smile on her flushed face. Lifty frowned and let go of her face as he stared at her with a puzzled expression.

"Why are you laughing? What's so funny?"

"I-I just thought it was really funny how you almost got me to b-believe you," smiled Flaky, who could tell that if Lifty really wanted to hurt her, he could've done it minutes ago. She saw that all this was just a game. A little show to get her to tell him he was mean, "I almost t-thought you were really gonna do something there for a-a second!"

Lifty's frown deepened as he let his arms fall uselessly to his side. This wasn't going at all how he planned. Instead of scaring her, he ended up making her laugh. Not at him, but certainly not with him either. He muttered about how he was just gonna go watch T.V. again, wanting to get away from the redhead's giggling. Scowling that his mission failed and in an over-all sour mood, he turned to leave the kitchen and was almost out of the doorway when he felt a body pressed against his back as pale arms wrapped around his stomach in a hug.

He turned his head, eyes wary, "What the hell. . ."

Flaky stared up at him, her face still tinted pink from their close contact and gave him a smile.

"If it makes you f-feel any better, Lifty. Then I'll just say that y-you are r-really mean!"

The girl let out a little giggle and held him tight, ignoring the annoyed face he made that told her that he sure didn't feel any better.