Days have passed since you met your new neighbour Eren. Your conversations were limited due to Leon's jealousy. Since he's moved next door, your and Leon's arguments were more common. It was either about your weight or whenever you spoke to Eren. You constantly reassured him he had nothing to worry about. You were his wife, not Eren's.
You decided to go outside with the baby, get some fresh air and do some gardening just in time for summer. You love plants, flowers, and growing fruits. Watching them grow was your favourite thing of all. Red Spider Lily is your favourite flower.
You placed Jana in her rocker outside; you wanted to garden quickly. You were unsure how long Jana would be sleeping; you decided to set everything up to enjoy the nice evening outside. You wore black biker shorts with a loose tank top showing off your tattoos. You looked at your reflection through the glass door that led inside the house. Happy to see yourself. After a while, you hear Leon's repeated remarks from inside your head.
"You look like you're still pregnant" "You should hit the gym with me, We can leave Jana at my parents house" "You're losing yourself again Y/N" "Refocus" "Where's that beauty I met when I was 23? She was 19 and the most precious thing in the world"
A caught a tear slipping down your eye. You kissed Jana and began gardening holes throughout your shared backyard. You share the backyard with him.
What if Leon sees you out here? You brushed the thought off and looked towards Erens side.
He's not there. You're fine.
The toxic thoughts flooded your mind once again. Why isn't Leon attracted to me anymore? Why does he treat me so badly? Am I not good enough?
You decided tomorrow evening you'd get dressed and go out on a surprise date with your husband. You wanted to feel like you, again. Like how you two first met. Young and foolish. The feeling of ecstasy that filled your mind whenever you guys went out. The butterflies, the happiness, the way you felt whenever you were with each other.
"Hey stranger," a voice said behind you
You turned around and saw Eren on his balcony drinking a beer. Shirtless. His body was so defined, and his abs were so toned.
"I thought you said you don't drink?" You said, pointing towards the beer in his hand.
"Correction, I don't drink from your husband" he smiled
"Do you not trust us or something? You think we'd drug our new neighbour?' you said
"Oh no, I trust you. Just not him." Eren said before drinking a large gulp of his beer.
Beer is disgusting, I don't know how people like it.
You continued your gardening work, feeling his eyes pressed onto the back of your skin. You remember how your stomach was more noticeable in tight clothing. You felt self-conscious.
"Quit staring at me" You spat
"I wasn't staring, I just like the way you look" he yelled back on his balcony
He did a man spread. Clearly enjoying watching you work. You had a fairly nice body before the pregnancy weight kicked in, so you knew he was staring at your ass.
The little attention Eren showed you warmed your heart. You wanted to know his story. What brought him here? What was the purpose of you two meeting? What character is he going to play in your story. You felt yourself heat up, a small little voice inside your head that wished the scenarios you created came true. You can't afford to treat another person like you treat your husband.
"Y/N" You heard Leon yell your name.
Both of your gazes turned towards the voice. He marched in the backyard red as a tomato.
"Hey babe," you said calmly, trying to avoid him arguing with you outside.
Everyone on the block knew you guys. You were friends with everyone. Sometimes you have extroverted tendencies, which lead you to make new friends with your neighbours. They thought you were perfect. You had the looks and the brains. You graduated from university at the top of your graduating class majoring in sociology.
"Get inside we need to talk," Leon said, grabbing Jana out of her rocking chair and nearly waking her up. You knew to prepare for the worst.
You looked at Eren one last final time before making it inside. He looked devastated, you were unsure if it was at you or your husband.
Right after you closed the door, Leon spent no time yelling at you. "Why are you dressed like such a slut? Do you think he's going to be attracted to you? You don't even look good." He shouted at your face.
"Don't you see it's 25 degrees outside? What do you expect me to wear? Snowpants? Get over yourself" You said back, your temper was running low. It was the fourth argument this week.
"Maybe you should cover-up. No one should see you that exposed. You're MY wife."
"Stop being so insecure." You shouted "I am not your property, I get to dress however I like. Whether you like it or not" you added.
One thing about you is that you're not weak. You won't let anyone disrespect you no matter who it is. "You make me feel so insecure for just being human. I was outside crying because your nasty words haunt me whenever I look at myself." You cried
"It's your fault. If you really cared about me, this wouldn't be a problem." Leon said.
You looked at him in shock. You never thought those words would slip out of his mouth. He was unrecognizable, you never met this version of him. His manuplative side. "You are mine remember, you owe me." He added.
You owe him. You owe him. Those words are repeated in your head. Your vision blurred, and your eyes widened. Reminding you of when he took you in. You hid your face in your hands as his words triggered you to remember those days you were alone. Sitting outside in your week-old pyjamas, sobbing in the rain. You bit your nails off to the point you didn't have any. Starving yourself to the point where you were hollow. Your hair so thin and fraile it would fall out if you brushed your fingers through it too hard. You struggled to find enjoyment in simple tasks; again, you were failing your classes. It was hard to focus and no one ever checked up on you.
Everything felt so noisy. Leon slammed the door shut with Jana in his hands, leaving you inside the house by yourself, trapped in your own guilt.
You lay on you the floor with your hands behind your head in your comfort position. He triggered your PTSD and left you there to deal with it on your own. You cried and cried till you noticed the sun went down. Your memories were your biggest enemy.
-
Its been a few weeks since your altercation with Leon. Since then you avoided going outside risking seeing Eren again. The times you did see each other, it was a quick glance and you both turned away. You begin by considering your weight and the potential health risks associated with it. You knew deep inside your head you couldn't bear to lose another person in your life. You try to keep everyone close to you as possible. Your attachment issues have skyrocketed over the past few years.
Tonight's the night you decided to look pretty, to feel like yourself again. You put on a red dress that hugged your body beautifully. The dress had an oval cut in the middle of your breast, the buttons clipped around your neck, exposing your back. You felt beautiful.
You decided to put on light makeup to enhance your features. Wear a red tinted lip gloss that complements your undertones. You wore your locket necklace with a picture of your parents inside, your bangles. Your earrings, everything matched.
Your eyes shinned bright as your smile. You walked downstairs to see Leon there staring at you.
You blew him a kiss and walked out the door.
It was your time, you took yourself out on a date. You needed it.
You felt a pair of eyes on you. Eren didn't even try to hide the fact that he was staring. You felt like you again.
You called Evangeline, you needed your best friend at a time like this. You couldn't imagine sitting by yourself at dinner looking like you got stood up.
"Hey Evangeline. Get ready, dress hot. We're going out for dinner." You texted her, you knew she already saw the message because she always had her read receipts on.
-
Thirty minutes later, Lina hopped in your car. It felt like old times. You noticed Leon calling your phone. You decided it was best to turn your phone off completely. Tonight was your night and it won't be ruined.
"You look so good" You said to Lina, examining her.
She wore a backless mini dress that complimented her curly ginger hair. She honestly looked amazing.
"Don't I always?" She remarked.
You drove to the restaurant and ordered a table for two. "Update me on your life." You told Evangeline, it's been awhile since the two of you last spoke. You avoided going over to their house since the big argument between you and Leon.
"Aaliyah and I ended things off a couple weeks ago." Lina said
"Oh my god really? I liked her. What happened?" You asked
"I dont want to talk about it. Lets just say she wasn't the one. Hows you and my brother" Lina asked, just being reminded of him made you frown. Before you could even respond, the server interrupted you.
"Hey ladies, my name is Jean. What drinks can I start you off with?" The tall gray haired man said, he was fairly attractive per se. His hair was in an undercut with his hair parted away from his eyes.
You felt Lina kick you from underneath the table. You bit your lip at the pain because you feared embarrassing yourself in front of the server. "I'll have 5oz of red wine, you can bring her a glass of scotch with a glass of water on the side" You said, maintaining hard eye contact.
"Alright, I'll be back with the drinks. You can order food whenever you're ready" He winked at the two of you.
"Oh my god he is so hot" Evangeline grinned.
"Girl weren't you just sad over Aaliyah a minute ago" You laughed.
"I can't blame you though, he is an eye catcher. His ass is shaped nice too." You said
"I'm going to get his number by the end of tonight. He's gonna take me home, just watch" Evangeline bit her lip.
You looked around and everyone here was fairly attractive. You notice a server eating some of the food before serving it to the customers. Her cheeks turn red once she notices you're looking at her. You laughed as she ran away, she reminded you, little child with her mouth stuffed like that.
"Aye. You didn't finish telling me about yourself. You decided to ghost us for like two weeks ya know." Lina said, snapping her fingers in your face.
"Ugh, where do I even begin." You rolled your eyes. "He's so insecure about this new neighbor we have. We literally argue anytime he sees us in the same place or even when I dress nice."
"He's a doucebag. Even if he's my brother. I already know that he's an asshole." Lina replied.
"No, you don't understand," You sighed. "Ever since I had Jana he's always attacking me. I can never catch a break"
"Don't make me mad Y/N" Lina said, you notice her legs start shaking. "This has been happening since Jana was born? And you're now telling me? Jana is almost 7 months old. SEVEN MONTHS Y/N" Lina started to get angry. You knew you weren't in a good position now. She would never let this go.
"We're in public Evangeline. Stop." You said sternly
Just in time, Jean came back in time. "Seems like someones getting hangry" He smiled, placing the drinks down between the both of you.
"Maybe I can get a piece of you tonight" Lina remarked. One thing about Evangeline is that she is bold. Very bold.
"If you calm yourself down i'll let you know. I finish at 12." He winked. He was gone again.
"Guess you don't need to bring me home" Lina laughed.
I swear this girl is bipolar.
"Anyways, You need to stand up yourself. If anything comes to shove, Call me and i'll be there. Divorce his ass if you need to" She chugged the scotch down her throat.
No matter what, she always had your back. "What do you think your family would do"
"Uh, i'm not sure. I dont think they'd hate you or anything. Leon would definitely get shitted on by Max and Theo, we all love you too much." She responded.
That lighted up the tension a little bit. Knowing you would still have some family. If anything bad happened.
-
Later in the night, you and Lina parted ways. She had her location on just in case this Jean guy wasn't legit. You already had a picture of his license plate just in case.
You parked outside your house and noticed Leons car hadn't been moved all day. As you opened the car door, the familiar dry wood scent of weed. Its 1am who would even be up at this time? You questioned.
You look around to see Eren outside smoking. Shirtless once again with his hair tied up.
"It runs in the family" His sentence completely threw you off guard.
"What?" There was no way you were staring at his man again.
"I can feel your eyes on me" He turned his body, facing you. The streetlight is refraining you guys from complete darkness.
"You looked nice by the way. I'm telling you that because I know your husband didn't" His face was emotionless.
"What?" You were oblivious to it all. The wine in your system made you completely forget that the walls were so thin. He's heard every argument the two of you have had.
"It's sad a complete stranger has to tell you that rather than your own husband" Eren said before finishing his spliff and going inside. Not batting another eye at you.
You stood there in complete shock. It took you awhile to finally collect your thoughts and head inside. He wasn't wrong. You don't even remember the last time Leon complimented you, let alone slept with you. It was ages.
"Where did you go." Leon said.
He waited all this time waiting for you to get home.
"You were with him again weren't you" He got him from the couch, hovering over you. He had a few inches on you in height and in weight.
"I don't owe you an explaination" you spat. You slid your heels off. Your feet aching from dancing around drunkingly with Evangeline.
Leon grabbed your wrist firmly.
Here we go again.