Dealing with the Devil [Yandere x Reader]

Chapter 68 - Outside

The sun was setting when Christian told me he had a surprise, his voice soft, almost gentle, as if the past few weeks of tension between us hadn't existed. I knew exactly what this was—a calculated attempt to patch things up, to recapture the normalcy we had lost, as though a dinner out could fix the cracks that had already started to deepen.

Despite the knot of unease that still lingered at the back of my mind, I agreed. Maybe I needed this too. A chance to step outside the suffocating confines of the house and feel like a person again, instead of some puppet in his carefully curated world. I craved fresh air, some distance—even if it was just an illusion of freedom.

He took me to a small, quiet restaurant just outside the city. It was charming, with dim lighting, soft music, and an intimacy that made it feel like the world outside didn't exist. Of course, Christian had chosen this place carefully.

He always did.

Every detail was designed to make me feel comfortable, to make me forget—for a while—the tension that had been simmering between us.

He was in good spirits, laughing easily as we sat down to eat, his usual intensity subdued for now. But I could still feel it, the control, lurking just beneath the surface, like a predator waiting to pounce.

I watched him across the table, taking small bites of my food, the candlelight flickering between us. I found myself wondering how we had gotten here—how I had gotten so deeply entangled in his web without realizing it. And worse, why I stayed. The question Muse had asked me kept circling in my mind like a vulture:

Why do you stay?

At some point during the meal, I leaned back in my chair, feeling the weight of the unspoken growing heavier between us.

"You'll always be with me, won't you?" I asked, my voice soft, edged with a vulnerability I hadn't intended to show.

Christian looked up from his plate and laughed, his eyes gleaming in the candlelight.

"Of course I will. I'll always be there with you, no matter what."

A shiver ran down my spine at his words, despite the easy smile on his face. There was something both comforting and terrifying in the way he said it, as if there was no question in his mind that he would be a permanent fixture in my life. It was a promise.

Or maybe a threat.

I couldn't tell the difference anymore.

I sat back, picking at my food, my mind racing. I had been wrestling with a question for days now, one I wasn't sure I was ready to hear the answer to. But before I could stop myself, the words tumbled out.

"I do have a question."

Christian raised an eyebrow, setting his fork down and giving me his full attention.

"What's that?"

I hesitated, feeling the tension coil tighter in my chest. Then, I asked the question I had been too afraid to voice before.

"What would you have done if I didn't want to be around you after finding out you're... well, insane?"

The shift in his demeanor was immediate but subtle. His hand paused, mid-bite, his fork hovering over his plate for just a second before he resumed eating, as though nothing had happened.

"Hm... Turned your friends against you," he said casually, his voice as calm as if he were talking about the weather.

I blinked, trying to process his words. "Wait, how?"