Work Text:
Angel had been walking to the bar to meet Cherri, which he was so excited about. After the execution and they had finished rebuilding the hotel, Cherri stayed the night sometimes. She still claimed that she wasn't trying to be rehabilitated, though. Charlie was still ever attempting to get Cherri fully on board.
Now, as the spider demon walked down the streets of Hell, he started to think about how good his life had gotten recently. He was officially with Husk, he had friends who actually seemed to care about him, and now he had somehow gone four months entirely clean of any drugs, which Husk had reminded him about and congratulated him with a soft kiss this morning. Angel had blushed. He was so unnaturally happy, especially for him. He got so deep in his thoughts that when he turned to go down a dark alley to the bar, he ran into someone. Someone who immediately started yelling in a voice Angel recognized all too well. It was fucking Val. As soon as the moth demon recognized the blonde, Val gazed at him with a malicious smirk.
“You should watch where you're going, or someone might hurt you, Angie cakes. You're lucky it's just me,” Val hummed in his ear and Angel's body reacted, but then he tried to push Val away, with no success. The moth demon was not happy about that, so he shoved Angel hard against the wall, biting his neck, hands moving to pull Angel’s pants and thong off. Angel was trying with all he to beg Val to get off, to move, to do anything, but in the moment all his body could do was freeze.
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When Angel opened his eyes, he could barely see. It was dark and his eyes hurt. What he noticed first was that he was naked. His eyes went wide and he started looking for his closes in the darkness. He eventually found mostly everything, managing to get dressed with some pain as he did. He bit his lip, having forgotten what had happened until remembering suddenly. Fucking Val. He would not cry. He managed to limp to the hotel slowly, telling himself he was fine. He took a deep breath of pain before quietly opening the door of the hotel, closing it just as quietly. Part of him had hoped that his boyfriend would have forgotten to wait for him at the bar. It was a habit now. Sadly, his wishes were not granted and now he not only saw Husk at the bar, but Charlie, too. Angel saw them both look at him, smiling before Husk noticed Angel was missing clothing.
Angel wanted to disappear. The first urge he had had after waking up was to go get high, but he’d not given in. Now, though. He really wanted to be anywhere else. He could almost feel the pity all over him.
“Angel, are you okay?” Charlie asked him with wide eyes of horror. Who the hell had hurt Angel?
“Great.”
“I don't-” Charlie started worriedly.
“I need a shower,” Angel interrupted and just walked upstairs leaving the two downstairs. Angel went up to his room and locked his door. He laid in his bed, being instantly cuddled by Fat Nuggets. Angel felt disgusting. He hated himself. He hated himself for just standing there and letting it happen. He hated how scared he was around Val. Angel wasn't worthy of anything good and Val had reminded him of that. Angel was sobbing quietly when he heard a quiet knock on his door.
“Angel? It’s me. Can I come in?” Husk’s voice asked. Angel knew by now that if he told Husk no, he would leave him alone as long as he didn't think he would actively be hurting himself. Angel sniffed and wiped his eyes. He was a fucking mess. No one in this hotel except Husk had ever seen him cry and the cat demon had only seen it once. Angel got out of his bed slowly, still in so much pain everywhere. He realized now that he had been missing a glove and his stockings were ripped. As was his dress, He couldn't look at himself anymore. He didn't want to look at anything Val had done.. He never did. He had never been one to clean himself after things at the studio. He just couldn't. Angel remembered why he had originally started wearing the long gloves and stockings. To hide his constant injuries. He’d always used makeup on his face and neck for any other injuries. He was disgusting. He deserved what he got. He was a fucking dumbass slut.
Angel unlocked the door and opened it before sitting back down, trying not to show his obvious pain. Husk looked at him. He wasn't going to ask if he was okay when they both knew he wasn't. Angel was staring at the bed, not having looked at Husk yet.
“Angel, you don't have to say anything if you don't want to, but what happened? I thought you were going to meet Cherri at the bar?”
Angel really wanted to go take the easy option, lie and say it was fine, get high and forget. He couldn't though. He started tearing up again, still looking down. He was mainly shocked that Val had done this outside of the studio. Angel had become used to this and other abuse at work, but never outside of work. He had stupidly thought he had a safe place.
“V-Val-'' was all he could say. Then, he breathed heavily, and that hurt like a motherfucker. He tried not to whine too much.
“That fucker touched you outside of work? I’ll fucking kill him,” the cat demon growled. He didn't think he'd ever been so angry before. Angel was reminded of how protective Charlie had gotten when she'd witnessed Val at his work, but that couldn't be helped. The moth owned his soul. He would never let him forget it, either.
“I remember Charlie about to go off on Val when she came to my work that time, but that's different. I know he owns me. It's the worst thing in my life,” Angel said quietly. Husk thought about that statement. Maybe Charlie would go talk to Val with him. Husk had a bit of a plan, but he wasn't sure if Charlie would be able to do what he was thinking. Angel looked up at Husk.
“What are ya thinking?” the blonde asked him with curiosity and still terrorized just thinking about and talking about Val. He was shaking again.
“I think I have an idea, but I'll need Charlie to help. Do you mind if I ask her?” the cat responded with raised brows in planning. Angel had not been expecting whatever this was from his boyfriend. He truly expected disgust. He bit his lip. He was crying again, damn it. He just nodded at Husk’ request to ask Charlie for help for his mysterious plan. Husk looked at Angel and noticed the tears. “I’m not sure what else to say except that you didn't deserve this, Angel. You deserve only good things. You aren't disgusting. I still care about you so much. Do you need anything from me right now because I don't want to push any boundaries or-”
“I could use a hug when I'm clean?” Angel asked, looking at Husk with tears in eyes. “I don't know if I can do this…”
“Do what?” Husk asked softly, not wanting to scare the blonde. The cat demon moved his hand close to Angel's eyes, wanting to wipe his tears away, but never touching him without consent. “Can I?”
Angel nodded at his request, feeling his boyfriend’s fingers on him was a very nice change to other fingers on him. He bit his lip. ‘I don't want to look at myself and see what he did… I never can.”
At that, Husk immediately felt more concerned than he already had been. Sure, he knew Angel had to deal with Valentino at work, but he'd never really put it all together. The moth demon did this regularly. So did other people, probably. Husk wanted to kill anyone and everyone who had hurt Angel. He tried to control his temper. He didn't think that would help his boyfriend right now. He simply finished wiping Angel’s tears. He was also genuinely concerned by how much Angel didn't take care of himself. He eyed his blonde boyfriend and spoke. “If you want me to help with that, I can and will.”
Angel looked at Husk and just nodded. Then, they both walked to Angel’s bathroom. This was the person he trusted most in the world, so why was he terrified. Maybe he was still worried the cat demon would see him underneath and see what Angel really was: disgusting, weak, pathetic. He’d deserved this and he could have easily stopped it. Angel bit his lip and looked down. “What's on your mind? If you don't want me to-”
“No, I have to let ya because I trust ya more than myself right now. I really wanted to run and get high… I'm so sorry for being so pathetic and weak,” Angel apologized.
“Don't talk that way, kid. You are so brave and you are none of those things, It’s okay that you wanted to get high, Ang. It means that you are even stronger because instead of giving into your urges to self destruct you came home to us instead,” Husk told him seriously, looking at him kindly. Angel looked up at him into those forever kind eyes. He didn't deserve this kindness. “Do you want to undress yourself or-”
“Please, can ya just do it for me…?” Angel asked him quietly in embarrassment. He wasn't embarrassed of being naked. It was his daily routine at this point in his life. Being naked in front of strangers. Maybe it was because he actually cared about this person more than anyone and this was definitely more intimate than anything Angel had done. He let Husk undress him slowly, carefully. Angel bit his lip, holding back moans of pain. Once Angel was naked, he sat down in the bath Husk had started. He thought he saw Husk blush at some points. It was actually kind of cute. Angel let Husk clean everywhere he could without Angel moving again. They repositioned so Husk could finish cleaning him. After getting Angel clean and the soap washed off of him, Husk stood back up and grabbed a pink towel from the blonde’s towel rack. He helped Angel stand up and he dried Angel off just as gently as ever. He dried off his hair and then put the towel back on the rack.
The cat demon helped Angel into a new set of clothes. Then, the blonde demon looked at Husk, wrapped his arms tightly around the other and pressed his face as close as possible to his boyfriend's neck. “I love you.”
Fuck. He had just said that. He hadn't said it before and now he was scared for another reason. He had said it by instinct though. Angel couldn't breathe. “ya don't have to say it b-”
“I love you, too,” Husk responded immediately. Angel blushed so hard, but at least Husk couldn't see. They cuddled for a bit before Angel finally fell asleep. Husk watched his boyfriend beside him sleeping. Angel looked like a… well, angel. He smiled softly at the thought, but then remembered his plan. He needed to go talk to Charlie. He went back downstairs to where Charlie was still at.
“Husk! How is he? What happened? Is he okay?” Charlie immediately started talking worriedly.
“Val. Val happened. I wanted to kill him, but I thought of another plan if you were able to help,” Husk spoke.
“Okay! If it’ll help Angel, of course I'll help. What is the plan?” Charlie agreed easily. She’d never liked Valentino.
After Husk explained his plan to her, she happily agreed. Then, they were off. It didn't take too long for the two to be done with the plan successfully. When they got back to the hotel, they went up to see if Angel was awake yet to tell him the good news. Angel was awake when they tapped on his door.
“Husk?” was Angel’s response.
“Plus one,” Charlie said with a slight laugh. Husk let a low chuckle out in response, thinking about what they had just done. Angel was worried about why they seemed so happy.
“It’s unlocked,” Angel said. When Husk walked in side by side with Charlie, he moved and gestured to his bed for them to sit. “What did ya two do?”
“Well, you are officially free of Val. Your soul is your own, Angel,” Husk told him and Charlie waved her hand and a paper appeared in front of them. His contract. Then, Charlie waved her hand again and it caught on fire and disappeared.
“Did you guys murder Val?” Angel asked, entirely shocked. Not that he would have been upset if Val had died.
“No,” Charlie said with a grin. Angel raised his eyebrow.
“Charlie scared him and we might have brought Nift for backup,” Husk responded with a soft smile at Angel. “You're free, kid. You can do whatever you want, now.”
“I’m pretty sure you can actually be redeemed now, too!” Charlie added.
The first thing Angel did was leapt onto them and hugged them so tightly neither of them could breathe. Then, he started crying out of happiness for the first time ever, in hell or life.
“Ya guys are fucking crazy! Thank you guys so much,” he said, and though the embrace with them was putting him in physical pain he was too happy to care.