𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭

6

Yates is like the ocean, you think, dark and murky and deep and freezing. You're just barely afloat, drenched in him, his voice, his words, his kisses, his touch. He washes over you, spilling over your lips, stinging your cuts, and shutting your eyes. Sometimes, you can even feel yourself dissolving in him, like sugar in water, just a pool of grit collecting at the bottom with the barest echo of sweetness.

Yates. Yates. Yates.

It's been a few months since the two of you started "seeing" each other. Now, he has you firmly in his grip, the two of you spending almost every day together. The whole famous fiasco was blown over in a matter of days, and you practically pushed it to the back of your mind. What did you have to worry about? Yates had assured you there were no catches, no prenups or binding contracts. The only thing keeping you here was him and the fiery heat that bubbles in your stomach when you kiss.

"So, you are coming to my graduation, right?"

He presses a kiss to your cheek. "Of course I am."

"I can't believe you only have a month left."

Yates's face grows stony. His grip on your hand grows tighter as he sighs. "Don't say it like that." You don't respond, resting your head on his shoulder, smiling as he kisses your temple. He's been your rock for the past few months, solid and unflinching- something you've desperately needed. Sometimes, you're almost embarrassed at how quickly you've latched on; and yet, Yates has the same simmering desperation in him that claws right back at you, the new sense of urgency in his touch.

"Hey. Hey, Yates?"

"Yeah? You smell, by the way."

"You bought me this perfume! Anyway- can I ask you something."

He shifts. "Ask away." Yates pulls at a stray lock of your hair.

"Am I a leech- I mean..no...do you think I'm annoying?" you manage to fumble out.

He turns to look at you, incredulous. "Are you serious right now." He pushes you off of him, gripping your shoulders. "I think you need to go back to college because you're being so stupid right now."

You roll your eyes. "You're avoiding the question."

Yates scoffs in disbelief. "Okay, okay, wait. You're asking me, the guy who's been hanging around you for six months and basically chased you down to an alleyway of trash, if I think you're annoying. Is that what you're doing?"

You pry him off of you, scooting away. "Jeez, I get it."

"No, you don't get it." Yates reels you back in, his hand slithering over your waist. His grip is tight, your flesh prickling under his touch. Now, there's the hunger you've always felt. It's always leering at you with a crooked smile, slinking in the whites of his eyes. It sparks off of Yates's teeth when he smiles, expectant and venomous. Yates cups your face, his thumbs caressing your cheeks. You lean in, touching your nose to his. "You saved my life, [name]. I'm not even kidding. I was...at the lowest of lows when I met you and then..bam! You showed up like a...like some kind of badly dressed guardian angel. I was honestly about to drop kick you in that hallway but then it kinda clicked, you know? You felt it too. I know you did."

A..a hallway? No, he hadn't clicked like that- not like some kind of divine coincidence. He clicked the way addiction did, slow but sure, running haywire through your veins and tinting your blood. He had wormed his way inside of you somehow, and you know that he's here to stay, latched onto every part of you- even the visceral, bloody parts. Something curls in your gut. "[name]?"

There's a warning in his voice. It's soft at first, but then it builds up in your temples like a road.

"Yeah, of course. Why else would I be here?" you say, still at a loss for words. Yates nuzzles into the crook of your neck this time, peppering kisses to your neck. They start to grow more insistent, and you feel the whisper of his teeth scraping across your throat. You shift, uncomfortable. "Yates," you mumble, taking in a harsh breath. Your hands aimlessly pick at a hangnail, watching the blood bubble up from the small cut. "Yates, stop."

He pulls back, alarmed. "What's wrong?"