𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐏 (yandere x reader)

TWENTY-NINE ─ [ . : ｡✿ ] arborvirtae

"Oh, uh, Elijah's making a trip to the store tonight after his shift... anything you want him to get while you're out?" Lori asked, her voice sounding strained.

(Y/N) shrugged.

"Anything you feel like cooking?" Aziza added, watching her with visibly fragile hope in her dark brown eyes. "I know you said it's a stress reliever for you, maybe it'd be good──"

She shook her head. She'd completely lost her appetite since... since what happened last night── she couldn't stop thinking about the blood. She had no desire to cook or eat or do much of anything.

After a moment, Lori spoke, forced cheerfulness filling her tone. "Well... if you change your mind, just let us know! We'll get you anything you want, darling!"

No answer. (Y/N) was losing herself, she could feel it. And it was breaking her own heart, but she couldn't do anything to stop it. She'd tried to get out, and she was still stuck here. By the time she finally found an actual opportunity to escape... she was worried she'd be too far gone to even notice. Drowning in her grief and dissociating from all the terror, she was worried she'd never find herself again.

Finally, (Y/N) spoke. "I'm really tired..." Her voice sounded weak to her own ears. "Can I lay down for a while?"

"Of course," Aziza assured her quickly. "Whatever you need, sweetheart." As (Y/N) laid down, she and Lori moved to sit at the edge of her bed. Aziza combed her fingers through her (H/L), (H/C) hair, while Lori gently rubbed circles on her torso, both aiming to soothe their darling into sleep.

(Y/N) hated how well it worked.

Before long, she drifted off. She fell asleep to her own silent begging to the universe for someone to come save her. And she dreamed of prayers unanswered, of losing her mind, of a skeleton wrapped up in a blanket in her bed, taking her place.

They say you always wake up before you die in your dreams. That your body can't handle it. Doesn't know what to expect, so it cuts it right off to protect you. But if you're already dead, what is there left to protect? If there's nothing left inside you, is there anything to reject the unknown? In her feverish dreams, (Y/N) watched her own corpse rot. Morbid, perhaps, but her life had taken such a dark turn. Maybe her body wouldn't let her watch herself die. But she saw herself as already dead. And no function of her nervous system, not one of her lovesick roommates, nothing at all could protect her from that.

'I'm already dead,' she thought, again and again. 'So why does it still hurt so much...?'

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On the other side of the city, Jasper and Matteo sat in their kitchen in silence. Matteo was cooking ropa vieja, one of their shared favorites. Jasper couldn't cook much at all; beyond boiling rice, or making instant ramen, he was pretty hopeless. But, refusing to let all the chores fall to Matteo, he almost always took care of the dishes. Having been married for almost 10 years now, they'd fallen into a quiet, sweet routine with one another.

But tonight they were both distracted.

Jasper was the first to break the quiet. "Matty..." He looked up at his husband. "I'm really worried about (Y/N)."

"I know, love," Matteo sighed. "I am too, I mean... this isn't like her. It's been a week now since she was supposed to come back to work, and we haven't heard anything from her." He shook his head.

"I'm worried something's happened to her," Jasper confessed.

The two paused. Matteo turned off the burner on the stove, and began scooping up a plate each for them. He turned, set a plate in front of his husband, came around and kissed his forehead lightly. He sat down beside him with his own plate.

As he'd fallen into the habit of doing, Jasper texted Ivy.

Jasper: any word?

Without having to ask for any kind of clarification, Ivy texted back almost immediately. It seemed the same worries were weighing her down as heavily as her two bosses.

Ivy: no, not yet
Ivy: it's been a week
Ivy: do you think she's safe?

Jasper sighed, setting his fork down.

Rubbing his husband's shoulders casually, Matteo tried to think of a way to comfort his worries, even amidst his own deepening every day. "We have her new address on file," he finally said. "We can close up shop early, and go to check on her."

The blonde nodded, smiling softly. But it slowly faded. "And if she's not there...?"

"Then we go to the police," Matteo decided.

Jasper returned to texting Ivy, hoping including her in their plans would ease her anxiety. She was too young to have to deal with these things.

Jasper: we're going to check on her place tomorrow
Jasper: you don't have to come in tomorrow, we're closing early
Jasper: we'll let you know what we find

Ivy: can i come?

Jasper: no, i don't think it's a good idea. but i promise we'll keep you updated every step of the way.
Jasper: anyway, it'll give you a chance to go shopping for dorm stuff. your mom's been telling me you've been putting that off

Ivy: ew why are you talking to my mom again?

Jasper: she's a lovely lady!!

Ivy: 🤮

Even with all the fear they'd been feeling, Jasper still couldn't help but chuckle at Ivy's antics. Matteo glanced over, and he showed him the texts to catch him up. Matteo grinned softly, shaking his head in amusement.

Jasper: ok whatever miss hater

Ivy: god even ur insults are old

Jasper: >:O
Jasper: i am NOT old

Ivy: mhmmm

Jasper: anyway -_-
Jasper: i'll text you in the morning

Ivy: okay. be safe please

Jasper: always

Sliding his phone back into his pocket, Jasper returned to eating the dinner his husband prepared for them. "This is delicious, baby, oh my gosh," Jasper praised, wiping the side of his mouth with a napkin.

"Thank you, love," Matteo smiled, and pressed a kiss to his lover's cheek. "I am the master, what can I say?"

"Didn't know you were into that freaky shit..." Jasper joked.

In spite of himself, Matteo blushed. "Y─You... you..."

Jasper laughed, and kissed him gently. "I'm sorry, baby, I'll quit teasing you." The two held hands while they finished dinner, and for a moment, they could breathe again. Even amidst all the fear, all the stress, all the pain... they had each other. As cheesy as it may sound, their love could carry them through anything. As their wedding vows proclaimed...

for better, for worse
for richer, for poorer
in sickness and in health,
to love and to cherish with all my heart
til death do us part...

*. : ｡✿ * ﾟ * .: ｡ ✿ * ﾟ * . : ｡ ✿ *

AUTHOR'S NOTE
(y/n) entering her edge lord era

this chapter was a bit of a filler but it gave you a little peak into everybody's emotional headspace, so i hope you enjoyed it. next chapter will be pretty interesting so stay tuned.

until then, be warm and well fed :)