Shattered Inside (Yandere!Cheater x Reader)

XXV

"Hey, Ethan."

"(Y/n)! What a surprise— come in!" He stepped aside eagerly, waving you in with a giant smile on his face. You entered hesitantly, clinging onto James as if he was your lifeline. The anxiety that hadn't been there earlier was gnawing away at your earlier confidence. "Why don't you go sit down in the living room? I'll go make you some tea!" he suggested and set in motion to walk you over to a spacious room.

"Thank you..." You did as he said, and he vanished off with wide strides — off to the kitchen, you presumed. Silence consumed the whole room and finally for once, you got the chance to comprehend everything. The hospital had been calm and quiet, yes — but the tranquility there had been tense and suffocating you in worry.

The room didn't seem as lively as you had expected it to be; it looked like it had barely been lived in, surprisingly. There were no major signs of personalisation or decoration — that was until your eyes landed on a lone framed picture standing on the coffee table in front of you. It evoked a gasp.

Without another thought, you picked the picture up in fascination. It was Ethan and you as children, smiling brighter than the sun ever could. The picture caused a small smile to appear on your lips. You set the nostalgia-evoking picture back down and were about to get up to explore the room some more — until you heard foot steps approaching your location.

You let yourself sink back into the comfortable couch with a heaving sigh; you had intended to find out more about Ethan, but it seemed like you wouldn't have another chance to do so. Amanda and Abbey's worries had caused your overbearing trust of Ethan's innocence to diminish by quite a bit. What if they were right? What if he wasn't the trusting friend he feigned to be—

James suddenly stirred in your arms when another presence entered the living room.

"Sorry that it took me so long."

"It's alright," you replied with a small smile. "By the way, you have a nice apartment. Your bakery surely is successful; I'm happy for you."

"Ah, thanks." He set the tray with cups and a kettle of tea down onto the coffee table and lowered himself onto the couch, just next to you; he made sure to keep an appropriate distance, yet close enough to give you a sense of comfort. "(Y/n), I was so worried about you... if you don't mind me asking, what happened?"

"Matthew and I fought... because I wanted a divorce— little did we know that James had been listening to us shouting and screaming..." you whispered with a trembling voice. Your body began to shake in anxiety, causing Ethan to comfortingly run his hand up and down your back. You shot him a thankful look. "Long story, short: James fell down the stairs and pretty much has lost most of his memories..."

"That's..." He struggled with finding the right words to go along with his eyes full of pity. "Horrible."

"Yeah... I don't know what to do. Honestly, I'm just feeling lost in all of this. I just want to run away from it all— to somewhere I could start anew."

Ethan remained silent for a little while, thinking about what to say next. And then, his brown eyes that had turned serious in the split of a second bore into your own, searching for something. "Would you be ready to leave everything behind? Your career? Your... success?"

"Yes," you replied without hesitating.

"Would you be ready to leave really everything behind? Even all your possessions— minus the clothes on your back and whatever you may have in your pockets?"

You nodded, but furrowed your eyebrows. "Ethan, what are you implying?"

He brushed right past your own question and countered with one that left you in shock. "Would you... just take James and leave with me?"