#unknown vn

You tried to take a breath, but it was stifled in its inhale. Tight throat, you had to loosen your jaw in little twitches to let a shaky exhale out. His hands lingered on your fingers, almost rubbing them in assurance. “You’re shaking, sweetie.” He fretted, and you merely closed your eyes when his focus lifted. You shook your head briefly, and his hands slinked up from your bound wrists to your forearms.

“Look at me.” He asked, though the kindness was veiled with enough demand that it made your eyes snap open. You could take a breath in now, and he encouraged it. “Breathe in…” Your nostrils whistled as you then held it, mouth shutting as you bore into his small pupils. To your horror, they dilated at eye contact, and he finished the thought with an elated tone, “and out. That’s better.”

The exhale whistled again, this time through your teeth, clenching them again as you angled your shoulders backwards from him. “Still so tense. I thought you said you weren’t afraid.” He grumbled, somehow disappointed. Referring to the phone call that felt like an entirely different night now despite it being maybe ten minutes prior to this. You sucked in another breath and asked, “How am I s-supposed to stay calm when you’re-“

“Shhh shh-shh.” His palms now ran up and down your forearms, the warmth that wasn’t yours making your stomach suck in again as you struggled to pertain normal breaths. You looked away as he comforted in that whiplash of a gentle voice, “I had to tie your arms for your own safety. You were going to do something-“ He tilted his head to try and find your gaze again, to get through to you, “Drastic. You were panicking, weren’t you?”

“I’m panicking now!” You snapped, and his hand came up from the crook of your arm to squeeze your throat. Sitting next to you on the couch to restrain you, he was almost on top of you now as he hummed, “[Y/N], you need to lower your voice.”

You locked your eyes back on him the moment that a palm graced your neck, still trying to angle as far away as you could until you were about to fall, lay down on your back. Seeing this, he finished the movement. With his weight suddenly shifting against your hips, your core gave out and you fell to lay on the couch. Baring your teeth at him, you quickly begged, “P-Plea…se,”

“[Y/N].” He responded by saying your name, something he seemed to give out every other sentence since revealing he had learned it before you had even come to understand where he had come from. You still didn’t know that, but the intimacy of knowing your name so well was like turning the key to a stalling ignition in your brain.

Not everyone went out of their way to even remember it like this.

You fell quiet, accustomed to struggling with your breathing to feel comfortable as he pressed on your neck to choke you. You still stared, remaining quiet save for a few struggling jerks underneath him as he loomed over. The deep breath now came from him, and he cooed, “You get your way with those eyes a lot, don’t you?”

You swallowed against his loosening grip and merely murmured a last protest before clamping your mouth shut. His free hand came up to your face, a thumb tracing under your eyes still fixed on him. The tremors were now settling in the rest of your arms and knees, and he responded with more assurance while comfortably straddling you. “Why are you still afraid? I’m here now to show you how wrong you were about not being the one for me. You must feel so alone, you sounded so alone on the phone.” You were vaguely recalling the conversation before, your now foolish looking kindness biting you in the face.

“Are you the one I’m looking for?”

“Hm. Don’t think so, but… I’m sure you’ll find it. You sound very kind.”

“Are you going to let me tie your ankles now, or do I have to make you sleep in order to do that?” He squeezed your neck again, prompting a strangled squeak out of your dried throat. You shook your head at him, “No. Pl-please don’t, I’ll…” Dignity divebombed and blew up in the pit of dread settled in your stomach as you pleaded in a hopeless voice, “I’ll be good. I’ll-“

He let go of your throat, a hand now pressing against your bumbling lips as you looked up at him. “Shhh.” The noise, like your name, had rung out so many times that it felt like a numbing, false noise to keep you pacified. Still, it was working as you once again fell quiet and stopped trying to negotiate out of something well into motion.

“I know you will, sweetheart. You’ve already been so good to me, and I’m-“ He took another length of rope from the other side of the couch where his shoes had settled, “going to be good to you, too. You’ve got to let me, though. Alright?”

You only stared back, lips pressing together as he swooned before moving down your body, guiding your legs up to the sofa cushions to get the rope around your ankles. “From the moment I saw you, I knew you were a good [girl/boy].” His fingers secured the first knot, tone growing almost ecstatic now. “And you’re my good [girl/boy] now.”

Your knees knocked together as he continued to tie, sticking a finger between the loops around your feet to make sure it wasn’t destructively tight. Looking back at you, you were staring at the ceiling. The shivers were coming from something you were struggling to come to terms with inside yourself. [Y/N]…good [girl/boy]…good to you.

Hands running up from your ankles to your knees had you begrudgingly remaining still, eyes blinking in flutters to try and disassociate from the moment at hand. It was a nice (false, but nice) idea, to be good for someone. Of course this psycho wasn’t wrong, which you weren’t ready to admit aloud: you were alone. That was more from your own choices, your fear of being seen that seeped out in hesitance at the smallest signs of care – forced upon you by a man breaking in or not.

“You look so peaceful. Am I getting through to you now?” You looked downwards at him, hands loose but still balled into fists. “Nothing’s going to hurt you now. You’ll be safe,” He trailed back up, your chest caving slightly as he practically laid on top of you. Knees flattening out, you two were touching shoes as he got comfortable against you, those bloodshot eyes back down on you in something close to admiration. “You’re safe with me.”

He had something in his hand and held it out over your clamped mouth. “Now, take this candy for me. Be good,” Your eyes struck the pill between his fingers, registering that was not candy fast. You gave him a terrified look and shook your head. He sighed loudly, the fondness drained from his eyes. “You’re a whole lot of two steps forward-“ His other hand came up, a thumb immediately shoving itself against your lips and prying them open fast, “And one step back.” He stuck his other hand’s fingers past your tongue, a shrill demur leaving your mouth as he then held his palm to your mouth again. The other hand even came up to clamp your nose, watching you struggle but unable to wriggle away with everything tied and him on top of you.

“It’s okay.” He leaned close to your face, watching you swallow as your eyes rolled back, and even began to water from all the fuss. “You’re worth it.”

Worth. It made you choke, both from the actual pill sliding down your throat and the word that sat on a gilded shelf in your mind being used against you right now. Your eyes locked onto his again, and he let go of your mouth, easing your sputtering. “There you go.”

He pulled you up to sit by your wrists, and you were entirely focusing on what you were feeling now, dreading the effects of whatever just got given to you. He sat on the other side of the couch again, quickly pulling you up into his lap despite your hands pushing off his chest and your body coiling into itself as much as it could. “We have some time before we have to go. How about we relax those muscles? All that tightness isn’t good to sleep on.”

The stock stillness of your rigid body, remaining angled away from him, was turning to jelly within just a little amount of time. He wasn’t speaking, focused on the television that was still on as his arm kept lassoed around your ribcage to keep one shoulder as close to his flank as you’d let it. Your braced legs were even loosely draping over his own while seated in his lap, making you feel like some sort of worn out teddy bear. When you slumped against his outer arm rather than towards him, head starting to hang and hand uncurling to brace against his own wrist in a demand for stability, it came up to secure one side of your neck and guide you to the crook of his shoulder.

“Suppose you’re on the small side. It’s worked faster than even I thought it would. Sleepy [boy/girl]…” He sighed down at you.

“No one…” You were breathing hard, and when he settled his hand on your face again to stroke over your cheek, you deliriously leaned against it, “Tells me…I’m worth it…”

Above you, a painful gleam fell over his eyes, and he directed you to snuggle against his chest. Sweltering, tired, you complied with uncertain fingers curling into his jacket, lulled into the final nail by his hand stroking down the length of your hair in repetitive, soothing motions.

“You’re worth all the mess, [Y/N]…” He spoke as you fell under, hiding your face against him and sleepily keening to the praise that got you melting in his hold in the first place. He even tilted your head up, pressing a kiss into your forehead and seeing your eyes roll back, everything falling more slack than he had the privilege to see it that night. “Now, let me take you home.”