Darling Dearest [Yandere JJBA x reader]

[18] The Town Function

--

Warning: stress, stalking, threats of exposure for attempted rape, MASSIVE steel ball run spoilers, threats of violence, stand standing

--

Simon and I stood in front of each other, taking deep calming breaths to occupy our minds from the chattering coming from behind the curtain. 

"You ready?" The mayor asked us as we turned to look at her. "Fuck no." I shuttered, utterly terrified of the possibility of messing up in front of so many people. 

"Great, now get your asses out there and impress me." The mayor chuckled as Simon sighed. I felt my friend pat my back a few times before handing me a post-it note card. I looked over the piece of paper seeing small scribblings of a speech.

"Just read off of that, we'll be fine," Simon said taking a deep breath. While he showed a strong face I could tell he was just as stressed as me, if not more. I looked into his eyes and felt a bit relieved. It was nice sharing my stress with him. 

"Deep breath." He commanded. "Deep breath," I repeated, sucking air into my lungs. 

"You can do this." He said, breathing out his deep breath. "We can do this," I said, letting my lungs give out their air. 

"Let's do this," I commanded. "Let's do this." He repeated. Simon placed his palm curved on my back as we walked towards the velvet curtains that separated us from the crowd. 

The red barrier was pulled back as we were revealed to the crowd.

The crowned was lulled into silence as we stepped onto the stage. The taping of our footsteps slowly got louder as everyone became quiet. All eyes focused on us in a single moment, stealing my breath away. I was met with a few hundred eyes staring directly into my soul. 

Some smiling and supporting faces while others stared blankly, waiting for me to speak my peace. My mind was instantly filled with the thoughts of how nervous I must've looked. Was I shaking? Were there tears in my eyes? Did my face show my discomfort?

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. 

All I had to do was breathe and focus, it was simply talking and nothing more. I looked at our podiums, seeing a small microphone in front of us both. I glanced at Simon, seeing he was staring down blankly at the microphone. 

I watched some of the eyes on me shift to Simon, making him clench his fist. I felt my heart tighten a bit.

"Ha." I let out a sigh into the mic, making everyone's eyes shift to me. "I just realized we never decided who gets to talk first. Usually, we'd decide by rock paper scissors but it seems a little inappropriate for us to do that in front of all you lovely people. So I guess I'll bite the bullet." I chuckled watching some of the people in the audience laugh along with me. 

The mood seemed to lighten in the room as everyone focused their gaze on my light-hearted smile.

"As some of you might know, I'm (Name), resident cafe owner. We're holding this town function in honor of our new residents in town." I read off the card Simon prepared for me. I could see out of the corner of my eye that Simon was fiddling with his card. 

"You see, recently this little town of ours has welcomed many colorful new people. All of verifying background and classes. I am here to represent the townspeople to all our newcomers." I paused again, watching everyone gaze at my face. I could feel some sweat drip down my back.

"So as that representative, I feel it safe to say, welcome to our lovely town everyone. While appropriate, I'd like to say that seeing so many new faces appreciating our small town in the back woods of this country brings a tear to my eye. I dare say it makes my heart fill with pride." I smiled watching some of the original townspeople smile.