FRAGILE

Chapter 28: Use Me

The house had become unnervingly quiet, save for the erratic thumps and occasional clatters that echoed through its rooms. Maximus stood by the door of their shared bedroom, staring blankly at the sight before him. Levi had gone silent again, his frail form huddled in a corner. His eyes were hollow, his lips moving in a constant murmur as he repeated some mantra, one that Maximus couldn't quite make out.

Maximus's heart clenched, the weight of helplessness settling deep into his bones. It had been days since the last incident, since Levi had dislocated his shoulders while trying to serve in his desperate, conditioned state. Maximus had thought restraining him would offer some reprieve, but Levi's mind wouldn't let him rest. If anything, the restraints had pushed him further into his spiraling need for obedience.

Levi was no longer just trapped—he was breaking. And Maximus didn't know how to stop it.

"Levi," Maximus whispered, stepping forward, his voice raw with emotion. "Please, talk to me."

Levi didn't look up. His hands twitched, nervously picking at the edge of his shirt, the material worn thin from the constant fretting. His once-healing wounds had opened again, raw and inflamed, his fingers bloody from where he had chewed at his nails, unable to stop himself from inflicting further harm.

"I have to be good," Levi mumbled under his breath, his voice mechanical, like a broken record stuck in a loop. "I'm sorry, Master. I'll be better. I'll fix it."

Maximus's chest ached, his pulse pounding in his ears. He knelt in front of Levi, reaching out slowly as if approaching a frightened animal. Levi flinched at the movement, his eyes darting nervously as he shrank away. Maximus recoiled, guilt washing over him like a tidal wave.

"You don't have to do this," Maximus said softly, pleading. "You don't have to be better. You're already perfect, Levi. You don't need to follow any more rules. You're safe here. Please, just stop..."

Levi's hands shook as he gripped the fabric of his shirt tighter. His lips parted, but instead of responding, his eyes darted around the room, frantically searching for something, anything to clean or fix. His gaze locked onto the bedside table, where Maximus had moved the harsh cleaning chemicals Levi had been obsessed with. Maximus had hidden them, hoping to keep Levi from hurting himself further, but the Omega's eyes had already found their next target.

"I'm sorry, Master," Levi whispered, his voice barely audible. He moved to stand, his movements sluggish and uncoordinated, as if his body had forgotten how to function properly. Maximus quickly rose to his feet and gently grabbed Levi's arm, preventing him from moving.

"No," Maximus said firmly, his voice cracking with the weight of his desperation. "You don't have to fix anything. You don't have to do this anymore."

But Levi's mind wasn't listening. He stared blankly at Maximus, his expression devoid of understanding. "I have to. Thomas said—Thomas told me that if I don't serve, I'm nothing. I'll be punished. I can't... I can't fail again."

Maximus closed his eyes, swallowing back the pain and rage that threatened to overwhelm him at the mention of Thomas's name. The monster's influence still clung to Levi like a suffocating blanket, choking out every bit of life that might have flickered inside him.

"You won't be punished," Maximus whispered, his grip tightening just slightly, not enough to hurt, but enough to ground Levi in the present. "Not by me. Never by me."

Levi trembled, his eyes blinking rapidly as if trying to process the words, but they didn't seem to take hold. His body swayed slightly, his knees buckling, and Maximus had to catch him before he collapsed. Levi was burning out, wearing himself thin with the constant push and pull of his fractured mind.

"I can't... I can't rest," Levi gasped, his breath coming in short, panicked bursts. "I have to be good, Master. Please... make me good. I'll do whatever you want."

The words hit Maximus like a blow to the gut.

Levi wasn't speaking to him as a mate. He was speaking to him as property, as a slave offering himself in the only way he knew how—to serve, to be used. The weight of that realization crushed Maximus, his heart nearly breaking under the pressure of it.

"Levi, no..." Maximus shook his head, horror spreading through his chest. "I don't want you like that. I want you. Not what Thomas made you believe you had to be. You don't need to offer yourself like this."

But Levi wasn't hearing him. The Omega's conditioning had taken over, twisting his sense of self-worth into something horrifying and broken. His hands reached up, trembling as they ghosted over Maximus's chest, his touch hesitant and uncertain.

"Please," Levi whispered, his voice cracking. "If I'm not good enough like this... then use me. I can be useful that way. I won't complain. I promise. Just make me good."

Maximus recoiled as if Levi's words had physically struck him. He couldn't bear it—the sight of his mate offering himself like this, so deeply broken that he believed the only way to be valuable was to be used. Maximus's stomach churned with the disgust of what Thomas had done, of what Levi had been reduced to.

"No," Maximus said firmly, grabbing Levi's wrists and pulling them away from his body. "That's not what I want. That's not what this is, Levi. You are not here to serve me. You're here because you're my mate. Because you belong with me, not beneath me."

But Levi's eyes were filled with desperation and confusion. "I don't know how... I don't know how to be what you want." His voice broke, tears welling in his eyes. "I can't do it. I'm sorry. I don't know how."

Maximus pulled Levi into his arms, his heart aching as he felt the Omega's fragile body trembling against him. Levi's tears soaked through his shirt, but Maximus didn't care. All that mattered was holding him, grounding him, pulling him back from the abyss that threatened to swallow him whole.

"You don't need to know how," Maximus whispered into Levi's hair. "We'll figure it out together. You don't have to do this alone."

Levi's sobs wracked his small frame, and Maximus could feel the exhaustion radiating from his mate, the weight of years of torment bearing down on him. Levi had been running on nothing but fear and conditioning for so long that the idea of resting—of simply existing without serving—felt impossible to him.

"Please..." Levi mumbled weakly, his voice barely above a whisper. "I just want to be good. I just want to stop feeling this way."

Maximus's own tears fell silently as he held his mate tighter. There was no easy fix for this—no quick solution that could undo the years of abuse Levi had endured. But Maximus wasn't going to give up, not on Levi, not on the fragile hope that still flickered somewhere deep within him.

"You are good," Maximus said softly, his voice full of emotion. "And I'm not going anywhere. We'll get through this. Together."

Levi's grip tightened on Maximus's shirt, his body still trembling, but slowly, his sobs began to quiet. He was still so far away, still trapped in the twisted maze of his own mind, but Maximus would wait. He would hold Levi through every breakdown, through every struggle, until his mate could see himself as more than just a tool, more than just a slave.

Because Levi wasn't 2197.

He was Levi. Maximus's mate. His love.

And no matter how long it took, Maximus would help him see that again.