"I'd rather destroy myself than watch someone else get pieces of you."
~Annie Flame~
CHAPTER FOUR: Yours, Whether You Want Me or Not
Eidan had always thought of himself as soft.The kind of guy who cried at sad movies.
The kind of guy who let bugs live because killing them felt mean.
The kind of guy who said "sorry" too much, even when it wasn't his fault.But now? But he can't say the same thing about himself now.
Eidan wasn't sleeping anymore.
His bed became a prison cell.
His brain? More like a crime scene.
And Reen? She was both the weapon and the wound. Sometimes he felt selfish holding onto her but his obsession was far more stronger than his guilt.
Every time he closed his eyes, it was her.
Her soft lips, but dangerously hot.
Her smirk, stitched into his mind like a glitch he couldn't debug.
He tried to think of other things.
Homework?His parents?
Literally anything else. But nothing worked. He was lost in his own delusions
But Reen always bled back in.
That girl was like ink in water-you couldn't separate her out once she seeped into you.
The Reen Effect
At school, Reen acted like nothing had happened.
Like she hadn't whispered in his ear.
As if she wasn't the one who brushed her lips against his jaw and lit his whole nervous system on fire.
She laughed with her friends, tossed paper balls in class, stretched her legs across two chairs like she owned the room.
Meanwhile, Eidan sat there, eyes half-dead, wondering if he was losing his mind or just falling in love.
Maybe both.But did he care no?
When she caught him staring, she winked.
Not a cute wink-you're mine and you don't even know it yet kinda wink.
His heart didn't just skip a beat.
It slammed into a wall and asked to be left there.
"omg what was that?", his mind screamed.
The Physical Obsession
He started noticing things he shouldn't.
The way her fingers tapped her notebook when she was bored.
The curve of her jaw when she chewed gum, eyes half-lazy, half-hunting.
The way she smelled-like leather, something sharp underneath, like rain on hot pavement.
His chest tightened every time she walked past.
Not in a sweet way.
In a my ribs are cracking open but I don't want it to stop way.
Gym Therapy-or So He Lied to Himself
He worked out harder now.
Push-ups till his arms burned.
Chin-ups till his shoulders shook.
He told himself it was for "self-improvement."
But deep down?
It was because he wanted to be strong enough to hold her down.
Not to hurt her.
Just to keep her still.
Make her look at him.
Make her see him the way he saw her-with obsession, not kindness. More than just friends.
The Stairwell, Revisited
One rainy Tuesday, she caught him again.
He was walking home, hoodie up, pretending to listen to music but really just overthinking like always ,as if it was his job.
Reen cornered him in the stairwell.
"Eidan."
Her voice was soft but dangerous low. Like a wolf whispering your name.
Before he could blink, she had him trapped completely
Her body pressed close, her warm breath tingling against his neck.
"Still thinking about it?"
His ears burned.
He wanted to say no.
He wanted to lie about it.
But his body betrayed him.
His heartbeat told the truth.
Teeth & Control
Reen smiled, all teeth.
"You're cute when you try to act tough."
She leaned in so close he could feel her eyelashes brush his skin.
Her hand found his wrist again.
The same wrist that still remembered bruises from before.
But her grip wasn't cruel.
It was worse.
It was gentle. Like she was saying,
"I could break you, but I won't. Not yet." Teasing him like it was her jon
"Wow," she whispered, watching his throat bob when he swallowed.
"You're so serious right now."
---
She laughed suddenly, that sharp but soft laugh that made his stomach twist.
---
"God, Eidan, relax-I'm just messing with you."
Her teeth flashed in a grin, but her eyes stayed dark.
"You're acting like I'm gonna devour you or something."
---
Her breath ghosted over his skin.
"You shouldn't tease me like this. It may become hard to control..." He mumbled. His voice was low enough so Reen almost couldn't hear it properly.
"Did I hear it correctly?" Reen thought with a surprised look.
Reen's Slip-Up. She thought maybe it was too much. But seeing his embarrassed face make her want him tease more.
---
As she played with his wrist, her gaze drifted up.
She caught herself staring.
Not just staring-admiring.
---
His face was too pretty for a guy.
Smooth skin, with long eye lashes. Eyes too soft for this world.
---
If she didn't know his body was solid under that hoodie-broad shoulders, lean muscle-
she would've mistaken him for the kind of girl she used to crush on.
---
Her heart did a weird flip.
---
"Damn," she thought, "he's exactly my type... Wait what the hell? What am I even thinking?"
-
She bit the inside of her cheek, forcing herself to snap back.
---
This wasn't supposed to be about attraction.
It was supposed to be go like this.
It was just about teasing him until he snapped. Because it was fun.
---
But there was no lying to herself anymore.
---
Eidan was pretty.
Pretty enough to ruin her brain. If not for the rumors before leave girls, even boys stared at him.
Pretty enough to blur the lines between girl-crush and boy-crush.
---
She felt a bit jealous and uncomfortable, feelings she didn't wanted to admit.
She didn't wanted others to look at her "Friend" in that way.
Unnintentionally, Her fingers stayed wrapped around his wrist longer than necessary.
She liked how small his wrist felt in her hand.
But she also liked knowing his body wasn't actually small at all.
---
Eidan's Brain? Gone.
---
In his head, Eidan was screaming.
---
Why was she holding his wrist like that?
Why was she looking at him like that?
---
And why did he like it so much?
But he knew if she hold it even a more longer he might lose his brain.
Reen realized it and let him go. "Oh sorry!", she tried changing topic, " let's go back to our class."
___________________
His Thoughts Were Not Safe for School
In his head, he imagined grabbing her back.
Pinning her on the wall the way she pinned him.
Maybe even biting her lip-not hard enough to bleed, but close enough to make her gasp.
But he didn't move.
Because part of him loved the ache.
Loved being owned without paperwork.
_______________
The Text That Broke His Sanity
Later that night, it got worse.
At exactly 2:14 AM, his phone buzzed.
It was Reen.
Reen:
"Still awake, pretty boy?"
Eidan:
"Yeah."
Reen:
"Good. I like knowing you're thinking about me when you're supposed to be sleeping."
His throat went dry.
Then another message popped up.
Reen:
"Bet you're hard right now just reading this. Don't worry-I won't tell."
The Spiral
Eidan sat up in bed, sweat on his back despite the cold.
His hands shook.
His heart thrashed around like it wanted to jump out of his chest.
His face burned.
His stomach twisted.
But beneath all that?
He smiled.
A dark, guilty, feral little smile.
Because she was right.
_____________
The Mirror Moment
He stumbled to the bathroom, flicked on the light, and stared at his reflection.
His eyes red were red from not sleeping enough.
Pupils blown wide.
He looked insane.
But also...
He looked alive.
His lips parted, a whisper falling out without him meaning to:
"I'm done pretending." He wanted to run to Reen. Make her his only.
"Will she forget about everyone she has met before if he also dominate her mind?"
Her Game, His Rules
The next day at school, something shifted.
When Reen teased him in the hallway, Eidan didn't blush.
Didn't look away.
He just smiled.
A slow, wolfish grin.
"Careful, Reen," he whispered, leaning in so close his breath warmed her ear.
"Keep playing like this, and you might wake up in my bed one day."
Reen froze for half a second.
A half-second too long.
Is he the same sweet boy she knows?
But one thing for sure that was the moment she realized:
She wasn't the only one pulling strings anymore.
"Ah~this is getting dangerous."
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End of Chapter Four
To be continued....