Shattered Inside (Yandere!Cheater x Reader)

XL

"I'm very glad you could join us today, James. I was very surprised when Lily told me on our way home from your mother's theatre play that you would join us today," Matthew said as he lowered himself onto the chair opposite of the visitor. His smile charming as ever, he folded his hands and laid them on the table, as if he was in the middle of a complicated negotiation. James' eyes sparkled with admiration towards the confident man, already wishing to one day be just like his girlfriend's father whom he had just met a week ago, yet whom he felt a lifelong connection to, already. Matthew's eyes were trained on the boy, unwavering and quite overly excited. "And Lily is very glad, too. She's been running around the house like a headless chicken ever since she arrived this morning."

"Oh really?" An amused chuckle escaped James' lips, and he shifted to the side to look at said girl.

A little pout adorned her face as she sat there, her arms crossed. "Dad!" she cried out, her cheeks red in embarrassment. "You're so mean..."

The man shot her a sheepish smile, apologising even though everyone at the table knew there was no real meaning behind his light-hearted apology. Silence that was neither comfortable nor awkward settled in, Lily quietly continuing to sulk in her chair. Matthew sat in his chair, sneakily throwing glances at James. Tiffany, who had contributed nothing to their recent conversation, remained silent — like a pretty yet soulless doll; deep inside though, she was horribly unnerved by how casually this nightmare was playing out in front of her broken eyes.

The silence was briefly broken when their personal chef sauntered into their lavish dining room, rolling a metal cart in front of him that was loaded with various dishes. The smell that wafted over almost made James drool, but he was able to control himself in front of such important people.

"Bon appétit," the chef exclaimed after he had danced around the table to set the plates filled with food into the middle. With one last over-the-top bow, he vanished back to the kitchen. Following his departure, the room returned to its former silence. Everyone aside from James, who was uncomfortably shifting in his seat, sat frozen in their chairs, like robots. Everyone helped themselves to the food on their own, not conversing much meanwhile. James awkwardly reached out to fill his plate with a small portion of the mouth-watering looking sweet potato French fries.

Who knew a family dinner could ever be this quiet: Everyone simply minding their own business, eyes trained on their own plates? James certainly didn't. Used to all the chaos and stories you shared at the dinner table — all the happy memories he could recall from hectic evenings with his family — he really felt out of place now amongst the ghosts that didn't even mind the pressing quiet and tension. For a while, he settled on munching on his fries. The only sounds audible were the metal of the cutlery bumping against one another or the plate, as well as silent chewing. Once he couldn't bear it anymore though, he decided that the atmosphere had to change — or else he would explode.

Turning to his right, where Lily sat, he tried to telepathically ask her what to do next. The girl didn't notice him though, no matter how intense his stare turned, because she was still so deeply caught up in embarrassment. As Lily's loving boyfriend, James felt as if it was his duty to limit the embarrassment she would have to endure today.

Taking one deep breath, he finally found the courage to disband the silence. "Uh well, I'm very grateful I'm allowed to be here? Lily told me you guys do this every month — just the three of you," he chimed, his voice close to breaking at the end. Matthew's smile widened to a size that might have been too big for his face, thus turning a little bit eerie looking — which James didn't notice, already too enamoured and charmed by the charismatic man.

Warm laughter spewed out of the older man's lips as he bellowed, "James, you're already like family to us!" Tiffany's lips drooped lower and lower until they almost hit the ground in despair. She was worried — terribly so, but no one noticed due to being too preoccupied with the excitement of having a guest over, which was in itself a rare occasion. Under the table, Lily's hand reached out towards James' to softly grab it and give it a soft, proud, and reassuring squeeze.