Shattered Inside (Yandere!Cheater x Reader)

XIV

The drive home was uneventful. The radio was dead silent, and the soft humming of the car's engine was all that accompanied Matthew's melancholy. On the other hand, he was glad that he had managed to talk to Tiffany rather successfully; hopefully, she'd heed his wishes and not try to contact him in any way, shape, or form.

Matthew just wanted her gone from his life.

"I did it..." he repeated to himself multiple times. His fingers tightly gripping the steering wheel loosened. "Tiffany now is a closed chapter of my life — for good. It's time to turn open a new page, (Y/n)."

The adrenaline fading away left Matthew almost falling asleep during the drive, but he knew he could sleep when lying next to you in bed, not plagued by pricks of conscience anymore. The nightly scenery blended into one blurry mess as Matthew zoomed past, his eyes watching but his mind never comprehending or saving said scenery. The man was on autopilot, standby-mode — whatever you call it.

Faded echoes ghosted around in his head, but he was too tired to pay them any mind. All he could think of right now was throwing himself into bed, wrapping his arms around you and falling asleep to the sound of your even breathing; it gave him enough motivation to continue the exhausting drive home.

"Things will be the same again." Matthew smiled to himself. With your and James' radiant face in mind, half an hour passed by like nothing.

Eventually, a familiar mansion came into view, and it sparked a sense of relief in Matthew's chest. He quickly pulled up into the spacious drive-way after the surprised guard had opened the gate for him. The driver was barely able to hold his eyes open as he pulled the keys out of the dying engine.

Not bothering to even properly park the car in its designated place in the garage, Matthew left it standing in the open and climbed out of it. His moves were akin to those of a robot — a not very well-oiled one; his joints gave off a satisfying and loud pop when he firmly planted his feet onto the ground. Carelessly, he pushed the door close and hurried up to the front entrance with his droopy eyes full of desire to lay down and get some well-deserved rest.

Matthew ventured through the darkness of the night and in his exhaustion, accidentally bumped against quite a few pieces of furniture here and there. Then, the unpleasant crashing of glass against the wooden floor snapped him out of his trance. With cat-like eyes, he gazed around the living room with his guard on high alert.

Matthew's eyes drifted to the floor, where a picture frame faced down lay. Barely, he could see small outlines of the glass illuminated by the few rays of the moon that came through the large windows. An exasperated sigh escaped his lips as he painstakingly bent down to pick the frame up.

Accidentally, the sharp edges of some glass shard cut into the skin of his thumb and caused blood to seep out of his skin where it had been penetrated. Matthew's mind only recognised small bits of the pain, the tiredness working like some sort of wall shielding his mind from comprehending his skin's cry for help. He simply continued on, not caring.

He turned the picture frame around; it harboured a photo of the three of you — James, him and you — at said boy's birthday party the day he had turned three, not too long ago. The young child was happily smiling into the camera, his sides flanked by his loving parents. That day had been the last where you all had come together to spend time with each other — before things went downhill.

A smile appeared on Matthew's lips.

He set the picture frame back onto the dresser again, deciding he'd clean up the mess tomorrow.

The house at night seemed dead; only that tonight, it didn't. The loud gasp in the back of Matthew's throat remained there in fear of waking up the peacefully sleeping inhabitants of the mansion. Inwardly though, his mind was panicking as his eyes were trained on the light seeping out from under the door slit of your shared bedroom.