Deep Like Water (Yandere!BEN Drowned X GN!Reader)

Hey, Don't Let Go.

When BEN returned, you were sat upright in bed, face contorted in concentration as your in-game character desperately fought off flying green lizards with a red sword. You didn't notice him standing there until you paused the game to take a breath and sort out your inventory.

'How'd it go?' you asked.

'Pretty good, I think.' He perched on the edge of the bed, only shuffling next to you when you moved closer to the edge. 'Mik reckons that they've found out who the copycat is. She's gonna wait a few days before Željko will do his thing.'

The words swam around your head as the image of a faceless person behind bars filled your vision. It's...over? Just like that? For some reason, you couldn't believe that everything had resolved itself so simply. You had been expecting a variety of different challenges, a toll on your mental health, and a deep bitterness towards the culprit that finally left when you saw them get punished.

'Really? Who was it?'

'Kyler. The one we said probably wasn't the killer.'

'Oh. So, this is it? It's over?'

'I guess so,' BEN said, eyes fixed on the TV screen. 'Are you happy?'

A quick check-in gave you the answer. 'I don't know.' How pathetic. 'It's very...sudden. That's all I can say.'

'I know it is, but soon things will settle down and life will be normal again. We can go back home whenever you're ready, and you won't ever have to worry about the copycat being there. Or your parents.'

'Why won't I have to worry about my parents again? Did you do something?'

'Nope; that was all you. Didn't you give them what for?'

'I did.'

'Then it's sorted. You're free.'

'I'm free?' For some reason, you couldn't quite grasp the concept of being 'free' from something emotion-wise. So far, your emotions had been a never-ending loop that never changed, but could this finally break the cycle? Would you finally be able to breath freely? 'You better be right about that.'

BEN's confidence shone from him like he was a lightbulb, and he said, 'Of course I will! I'm never wrong.'

'You're very sure of yourself.'

'Have you only just noticed?'

How did I know that you were going to say that? 'If you're so confident,' you said, 'then help me get through these godforsaken mines.'

'Still stuck on the first ten floors?'

'How dare you, I'm on floor thirteen.'

You both knew that you were just trying to avoid thinking about the revelation that Mik and Željko had brought with them. The space behind your eyes burned as tears tried to force their way through to open air, but you refused to cry again. You weren't hydrated enough to keep this pattern going, so the only thing you could do was distract yourself.

A question was making itself known in your mind, and as you sat and silently played the game with BEN at your side, you begrudgingly ruminated over it before it finally burst out of you in an undignified announcement.

'Are you going to leave me?'

'Why would you think that?'

It was embarrassing, but you couldn't stop your vocal cords from moving. 'They've caught the copycat, so you don't need me around anymore, right?' Stop talking. Just stop talking. 'There's no reason for you to stay.' It was a horrifying trend that you had come to accept long ago. Only a few people had used you like that, and to most people it would be insignificant, but to your already fragile self-esteem? It was like a stab wound.