>You take a deep breath as you walk up the concrete stairs leading to your apartment.
>The smell of the pizza in your hands was heavenly, and you're glad you're finally home.
>Work was crazy busy tonight, and you had to stay a few minutes late.
>But it always gets this busy around this time of year.
>The holidays are comin' to town, and they're bringing turkey, Santa Claus, and huge sales on presents.
>Coming soon to a retail store near you.
>You aren't complaining though.
>Life is good, and you make enough to meet your needs, and you've got a roof over your head.
>You pop your neck and unlock the door.
"HOOO boy, what a day!"
>Stepping inside, you see your adorable, formerly homeless girlfriend, Sunset Shimmer, sitting on the couch watching tv.
>She turns to you and smiles.
>"Anon! You're home!
"Yes! And I come bearing gifts!"
>You walk over to the coffee table and set the pizza down.
>You bend down to give her a kiss.
>"Rough day, huh?"
>You make a groan and plop on the couch.
"Oh, you have no idea..."
>You work in a warehouse shipping out miscellaneous stuff varying from toys to office supplies and furniture to different stores all over the country.
>They're finally doing their end-of-year sales, and so orders for stuff were coming in from left to right.
>You give a quick recap of the day as she massages your shoulders.
>Her fingers are like magic.
>"Oh Anon, I'm sorry."
"Eh, it's okay. It's worth it. It's decent pay, and I feel accomplished. Plus, it makes the time I spend with you even more valuable."
>She blushes and gives a little giggle.
>"Oh now you're just saying things..."
"Only because it's true!"
>You smirk at her and give her another quick kiss.
>You stand up and stretch and walk into your kitchen.
>It's been cleaned up from the fire incident a little while ago, but your stuff is still broken.
>You've been getting take-out for a couple of days.
>Tonight was Wednesday, so you got pizza.
>Yesterday, you got tacos.
>You look in the fridge for something to drink.
"So what did you do today while I was gone?"
>"Well, I watched Batman Begins and part of The Dark Knight."
>You shut the door with a couple of sodas in your hands and peek around the corner, feigning a look of offense.
"Without... M-Me?"
>She shrugs at you.
>"I'm sorry, but you got me all excited about superheroes! It looked good!"
"And it IS good!"
>You walk back over to her and sit on the couch next to her.
>"How about we finish the rest of this one, then we watch the third one all the way through together?"
>You put your finger up to your chin, pretending to think about it.
"Alright, you've got a deal. Forgiven!"
>"Yay!"
>She hugs you excitedly.
"Now..."
>You grab the remote and look her in the eyes.
"...Let's put a smile on that face."
>You do your best Joker impression as you say it.
>She just cocks her head at you.
>"What?"
>...
"Oh, you haven't got to that part yet... Never mind!"
>You snuggle together and press play.
 
---
 
"If I take off that mask, will you die?"
>"It would be very painful... For you."
>The Batman marathon is over, and now, you're both sitting on the couch doing your best Bane impression to each other.
>She's cupping her hands over her mouth while she does it, and it sounds good.
>She even got the wheezy breathing down.
>She's really good. You might lose this contest.
>She giggles and puts her hands down.
>"Okay, now you!"
"Okay!"
>You clear your throat and cup your mouth.
"Speak of the devil... And he shall appear."
>It sucked.
>She laughs and sets her drink on the table.
>Suddenly, the drink falls to the ground and spills on the ground, causing her to give a little shriek.
>Golden oppurtunity.
"Ah yes! I was wondering what would break first!"
>She's torn between wanting to beg for forgiveness and laughing harder.
>"Anon, I'm sorry! I'll clean it up!"
"No! Your punishment must be more severe!"
>You reach forward and poke her sides.
>"No! NoaaaAAAHAHAHAHA!!!"
>She squirms wildly and laughs as you tickle her.
>You laugh with her as she tries to fight you, but you hold her down.
>You ease up after a little bit, and she gets her arms out.
>She reaches down and starts tickling you!
>You let out a Ron Swanson giggle as you both squirm around, tickling the hell out of each other.
>You're both laughing and wrestling with each other to try and out tickle the other.
>After a couple of minutes of fun tickling, you both stop.
>You lay on the couch with Sunset on you.
>Both of your sides hurt and you're both out of breath.
>She looks into your eyes with that adorable smile of hers and boops your nose with hers.
>Shes so silly.
>You give her a quick peck and she giggles.
>She sits up and stretches.
>"Thanks for watching Batman with me."
"Thanks for letting me watch Batman with you."
>She walks into the kitchen.
>It's getting late, so you sit up and start gathering the leftover food up.
>Sunset comes back with a paper towel and cleans up her spilled beverage.
>You take them from her and throw them away.
>"I'm gonna take a shower then go to bed."
"Alright. I might stay up a bit."
>She smiles and gives you a hug, followed by a quick kiss before she goes into the bathroom.
>You turn on your Wii and insert a game disk.
>You grab a GameCube controller and sit down on the couch.
>You love watching movies with Sunset after a hard days work, but now she's occupied.
>Time to make yourself occupied as well.
>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Mm8_suRTPw
 
---
 
>You are now Sunset Shimmer.
>And you're very happy.
>You're living in a decent apartment with one of the nicest guys you've ever met.
>Anon is a wonderful boyfriend, and an even more wonderful person.
>He willingly took you in, fed you, gave you a place to sleep, and clothed you.
>Even when he had almost nothing himself.
>You just couldn't be more grateful for his selflessness.
>You yawn as you step out of the shower.
>It's been a long but good day.
>You've been getting caught up on a few popular things that Anon likes.
>You never had the chance to get into pop culture or fun stuff before, it was just about surviving another day.
>You grab a towel and dry yourself off.
>You wonder if Anon is still awake.
>Sure, he said he would be, but you took a really long shower.
>Putting on your oversized t shirt, you step outside.
>Yep, the place is dark.
>You walk into the bedroom to find Anon sound asleep.
>You smile and get under the covers.
>He shifts and lifts up his arms so you can cuddle up close to him.
>You take a deep breath and smile.
>You're so glad Anon came into your life.
>You were so close to giving up, so close to the end, you were sure of it.
>Until he came along.
>Your loverboy.
>...
>Love...
>...
>Is this what love is?
>Do you love Anon?
>You looked up to his face, thinking about it.
>You've put your trust in him with your life, and he hasn't betrayed that trust.
>He's given you everything he could to make sure you were safe and looked after.
>You felt so special when he was around.
>The way he looks at you, talks, laughs, it all just makes any cares in your head disappear completely.
>Thinking about it makes your eyes tear up and you smile.
>You rest your head on his chest and close your eyes, whispering to him.
"I love you, Anonymous..."
>You smile and let yourself drift off to sleep.
 
---
 
>You stir as you slowly wake up.
>Opening your eyes, the room is still dark, just as you left it.
>Something was wrong though.
>As your brain slowly wakes up, a smell hits your nose.
>It smells like smoke.
>You sit up and hit a cloud of smoke with your face.
>You cough and turn to Anon, who's still asleep.
"Anon."
>He doesn't respond.
>You shake him and try to wake him up.
"Anon, get up. Something isn't right."
>He groans and yawns.
>"Mmmfff.... What... What's wrong?"
>Taking a tired deep breath, he freezes as the smell hits his nose.
>"What is that?"
>He sits up and swings out of bed, walking to the door.
>When he opens it, an orange light illuminates the room.
>You see his eyes widen and he runs out the door.
>"Shit! SHIT SHIT SHIT!"
"Anon?! What is it?!"
>You jump out of bed and run after him.
>When you leave the room, you see the apartment completely engulfed in flames.
>Anon is standing there, grabbing his head and looking around, horrified.
>You shriek and run up to him.
"Anon, what do we do?!"
>He stares at the scene in shock.
"ANON!"
>He turns to you and grabs your shoulders.
>"Sunset, listen to me! Grab my phone and dial 911! Get your shoes on and get outside as fast as you can! GO NOW!"
"Okay!"
>You run back to the bedroom and turn on the light.
>You grab Anon's phone and dial 911.
>Spotting your shoes, you grab them and put them on as fast as you can.
>"911, what is your emergency?"
"HELLO! Hello! Please help! Our apartment is on fire!"
>"Miss, please calm down, and get outside if you can. We'll send a team there as fast as we can."
"Thank you! Thank you so much! Please hurry!"
>You shakily finish putting your shoes on and run back outside.
>You're on the verge of tears, you're panicking so much.
>The living room is completely ablaze. The couch, table, tv, everything.
>The kitchen is on fire even more; you can't see anything except fire.
>You see Anon grab a large blanket from behind the burning couch and look at you.
>"Get outside! Hurry! I'll be right behind you!"
>Before you can reply, he covers himself with the blanket and runs into the burning kitchen.
"Anon, no!!"
>You try to stop him, but you're too late.
>You look inside the flames, trying to spot him.
>The brightness, smoke, and tears flowing from your eyes aren't helping.
"Anon!!! Oh Celestia, please!! Anon! ANOOON!!"
>You stand there, horrified and sobbing as you wait for some kind of sign that he heard you.
>What was he thinking?! He must be insane!
>You're thinking about running in after him.
>It might be a deathwish, but he has to get out of there!
>Before making any movements, he comes bolting out of the inferno.
>The blanket over his head is completely covered in flames.
>In one fluid motion, he throws it onto the ground, grabs your wrist, and pulls you toward the door.
>You almost trip and fall to the ground, but manage to catch yourself.
>He charges the front door and slams into it, quickly turning the doorknob and opening it.
>He pushes you out first before flying out himself.
>You run down the stairs and fall to the snow-covered ground.
>Anon lands right beside you, coughing out of control.
"Anon! Oh Celestia, Anon! Are you okay?!"
>He keeps coughing, but nods.
>You just look at him as he wheezes for air.
>"I'm...*cough cough* I-I'm okay..."
>You pant and sniff, just relieved that he's alright.
>You look back at the burning apartment building and start crying again.
>You were inside there just a few seconds ago.
>Suddenly, a metallic clanking noise gets your attention.
>Anon dropped a small black box he was carrying.
>Is that what he got from the kitchen?
>A fire engine siren cuts off your thoughts.
>Looking to your right, you see the red flashing lights approach your location.
>It screeches to a stop in front of you and a few firefighters get out and grab their tools.
>One of them looks over at you.
>"Hey! How many people are still inside?!"
>Anon wheezes and coughs another time.
>"No one! It's totally vacant!"
>He nods and helps the rest of the firefighters do their thing.
>Anon turns and sits down, facing the burning building.
>He grabs the black box and stares at it for a moment.
"Anon?"
>He doesn't reply.
"Anon, what is this?"
>You reach out and barely touch the box.
>It's freezing.
>He covers it with his hands and looks down at it.
>He still doesnt reply.
>You just scoot over to him and put your arm around him.
>You watch the firefighters scramble to extinguish the flames.
 
---
 
>You are Anon.
>And right now, you're at a new low.
>You can't believe what's happening right now.
>Your crappy apartment you worked so hard to get, all your stuff you paid for with your hard-earned money, its all up in flames now.
>Everything.
>You and Sunset made it out in one piece though.
>A part of you wishes you didn't make it out though.
>"Anon?"
>You blink, snapping yourself out of your trance.
>You look over at Sunset, she's looking at you, worried.
>"Are you okay?"
>No.
>Not even a little bit.
>You look back toward your apartment and nod slowly.
"Y... Yep... 'mfine..."
>The flames are out and the firefighters are walking in and out of your front door.
>Sunset cuddles against you under a blanket.
>...
>Wait...
"Where... Where did this come from?"
>"Uh, one of the firemen gave it to us... Remember?"
>You feel it in your fingers.
"No..."
>Damn, you're out of it.
>"Hey..."
>Sunset reaches up and touches your cheek, forcing you to look at her.
>"...everything will be okay, okay?"
>She tries to smile as best she can, but you can tell right off the bat that it's fake.
"I know..."
>You look down at the box in your hands and rub it.
"...I just wish that it didn't have to come to this."
>Spinning to the correct numbers on the dial in front, you unlock and open the box.
>You show it to Sunset, and her eyes go wide when she sees it's contents.
>"O- Oh my gosh..."
>Inside lay a clear envelope containing $5,000 cash.