𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗿𝘂𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗱 ⌜𝗱𝗶𝗼 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗼 𝘅 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿⌟

24. 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗡𝗚𝗘𝗗

𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗥 24. 𝗧𝗜𝗠𝗘 𝗠𝗔𝗬 𝗛𝗔𝗩𝗘 𝗣𝗔𝗦𝗦𝗘𝗗, 𝗕𝗨𝗧 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗛𝗔𝗩𝗘𝗡'𝗧 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗡𝗚𝗘𝗗 𝗔 𝗕𝗜𝗧, 𝗗𝗔𝗥𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗚.

𝗛𝗜𝗦 𝗣𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗘𝗡𝗖𝗘 lingered behind you. You could feel him there. He knew you were aware of his presence, but he made no move to try and get closer to you. He was only allowing you to know that he was there, watching your every move.

The wounds on your knuckles were healing faster than they had before, the only remnants of your anger behind the chipped stone in the railing in front of you. Your fingers gripped the unbroken stone tightly, your jaw clenching.

"The sun will be rising soon,"

You didn't reply to him. You heard him sigh after a moment. You felt his hand brush along your back, sliding up toward your shoulder.

"Y/n, please. Understand that I didn't do it with the intention of harming you. You're only hurting yourself. Drinking animal blood isn't enough to fully satisfy your cravings. It doesn't give you the energy that you need—the nutrients that you need," He said softly. "I would never intentionally harm you, my love."

You knocked his hand off your shoulder and turned away. He grabbed your waist, turning you to face him. He caged you against his chest, frowning down at you softly.

"Let go of me," You said quietly.

"It wasn't enough to do anything," He said, fingers brushing under your chin. "It wasn't even a fourth of an ounce. You swallowed nothing."

"What I ingested doesn't matter to me," You said, moving his hand away. "You knew my terms. You betrayed me, Dio. I was a fool for even trying to find you. I made a mistake coming here. I made a mistake with you."

He didn't allow you to get very far away from him. As you passed under one of the few palm trees in the town, he was there, blocking your path. He pinned you against the tree, trapping you with his body. His lips pressed against yours, silencing any words that you were about to spout out at him. His hands cupped your cheeks, cradling your face in his hands. He wasn't being harsh or forceful—it was a gentle and sincere kiss.

"Forgive me," He whispered. "I only want you to be stronger. But if you don't wish to be, I'll no longer try. I'll protect you from anything, Y/n. I just didn't want to see you suffer from this damned curse."

He didn't give you time to speak again before he was capturing your lips back in his. The rough feeling of the bark behind you disappeared, and your back was met with something much softer. You managed to push Dio away just long enough to realize your surroundings had changed in a matter of a second.

Your eyebrows laced together in confusion. Was Dio that fast? Just a moment ago, you were standing by the canal, and now, you were in a bedroom.

Dio read the confusion on your face and smirked ever so slightly. "This—" He whispered. "—is the potential you missed out on, my dear."

You slid your body from under Dio, pressing your back to the headrest. "Don't expect me to let you all over me. I'm angry with you."

"I've apologized,"

"That doesn't mean I've forgiven you," You replied, tucking your knees into your chest. "I've survived this long just fine without having the taste of human blood."

"You're only weakening your body," He frowned. "You're consuming blood that isn't the same anatomical structure."

"It's a preference," You folded your arms over your knees. "I want everyone to abide by this because I don't wish to turn into a creature like you."

"I'm no longer even human to you?" He sounded more amused than hurt.

"Neither of us is human," You said, leaning your head back. "We had that title stricken long ago."

Dio's gaze rested on your neck. "Time may have passed, but you haven't changed a bit, darling. You're still as stubborn as a mule."

"And I will remain as so," You hummed. "You'll keep your word of stopping your attempts or so help me, God. I'll disappear off the face of this Earth in a matter of seconds, and you'll never find me, no matter how hard you search."

"I'll always find you," He said, flicking his eyes up to meet yours. "That much I can swear to."

"I may not be in London anymore," Your lips pulled into a grin. "But I'm still the best damn thief there is."

"Running from the police has nothing compared to running from me," He purred. "In the end, you always come back."

"I would believe you," You said, slipping from the bed. "But you were the one who came after me."

Dio watched as you backed away from the bed, turning to face the small shelf of books in the corner of the room. You brushed the dust from the covers, the titles resurfacing in your mind. Some of the lines from each book bubbled up in your thoughts.

"These books..." You took one from the shelf, the dust flying into the air as you ran your hand across the surface. You opened it, your eyes scanning across the page. "...they're the same ones from the mansion. Back in London."

Nostalgia filled you as the words recurred in your mind. You knew the end of each line before you reached it. These were something that you remember. These were the exact same books that lines the small shelf that was in the mansion where you and Dio hid away from Jonathan.

"You sat for hours in front of the fireplace reading these, over and over again," Dio stood from the bed. "You loved them."

"I'm...surprised you remember that," You said, lifting your gaze to his face.

"How could I ever forget? I know the things you love and the things you hate," He brushed his knuckles along your cheek, frowning when you turned away from him. "Still upset with me?"

"Of course I am," You scoffed, closing the book. "Just because you have something from our past doesn't mean I forgive you."

"I'm not the only one who kept something from our past."

You tensed when you felt Dio's finger slide across your collarbone. The chain of your necklace glided over his finger as he untucked the chain from your shirt. The stopwatch came to his gaze, his handwriting still clearly etched into the metal.

"You've kept this, all these years," He said quietly and softly. "I would have imagined you threw it over a bridge."

"It was tempting," You mumbled.

Dio moved his hand to cup your cheek. You sighed in annoyance but allowed him to cradle your face in his palm. He gazed down at you, and you saw his expression change. You couldn't quite describe it, but it was almost as if he was...sorrowful if that was even possible for him. He rubbed under your eye, frowning at the dark circles under them.

"I haven't seen you in so long," He whispered. "Forgive me for what I've done to you. I don't wish for our time together to be spent with anger with each other."

"Give me one good reason I shouldn't leave now, forget you ever existed, and go about my merry way," You said, meeting his gaze. "Give me a reason why I shouldn't walk away from you, Dio Brando."

"Because if you truly hated me, you wouldn't be standing here," He brought you closer, his lips brushing against yours. "You're fast, you could get away. But you're not."

You allowed him to capture your lips. Your hand came to rest on his chest, the other holding onto his bicep. He pulled you closer to him, bringing your body flush to him. He felt you relax in his arms, your shoulders dropping from their stiff positions. You practically melted, your arm sliding up his chest to wrap around his neck.

"I've missed you, Y/n," His nose brushed yours as he pulled away. "But, now, we're together again."

𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗥 24. 𝗘𝗡𝗗
𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘: 3 𝗗𝗘𝗖𝗘𝗠𝗕𝗘𝗥 2022
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