Yearning 🥀

Sneak peak:

Aarvik sat on the cold floor of his bedroom, spine pressed to the edge of the bed like it was the only thing keeping him upright. The room stank of alcohol.

His tie hung loose around his neck, the knot ruined, and his white suit shirt was undone at the collar, two, maybe three buttons open, the fabric creased and stained faintly with alcohol.

The bottle lay on its side nearby, empty. Another rolled beneath the dresser. A glass of alcohol still on his hand.

His head tipped back until it rested against the mattress.

Moonlight spilling through the window, carving his face, eyes sunken, lips parted, breath uneven. He looked like a man already halfway gone.

"I'm sorry... I..I don't feel the same way for you."

Her voice whispered from nowhere.

Every muscle in his body went rigid.

His fingers tightened around the glass, the rim biting into his palm.

"There are lots of girls out there... girls who would want it...with you."

His chest hitched violently. A laugh crawled up his throat, low, broken, wrong.

Want it? Want him? They could want his body. His money. His name.

But she had taken something else.

"You... you're not someone I see my future with."

That was when the room tilted.

Aarvik's eyes flew open, but there was nothing human in them anymore. Just a terrifying, bottomless void.

In a sudden, violent motion, he hurled the glass across the room. It shattered against the wall, the sound was brutal, fragments raining down like broken pieces of him.

He dragged himself up on his feet, swaying violently.

His head throbbed, veins burning, but her voice stayed crystal clear, etched into his skull, repeating, mocking, denying.

She doesn't feel the same.

She doesn't see a future.

She doesn't-

His hands fisted at his sides.

He staggered toward the door, boots crunching over the shattered glass, unsteady.

His hand trembled as he reached for the handle. He swallowed thickly and leaned his forehead against it, breathing hard.

"She's lying," he muttered, voice hoarse.

"She doesn't mean that."

He pulled the door open and stepped out.

"Mine.." he muttered, voice slurred but deadly certain. "She's mine."

And deep in his chest, where love should have lived, something twisted and settled, cold, patient, irreversible.

If she wouldn't choose him...

Then she would belong to him.

His hair fell into his face, strands clinging to his damp forehead, shadowing eyes that looked hollow, empty of warmth, stripped of reason.

He looked lost, furious, obsessed... all of it rotting beneath an emotionless stare that no longer knew restraint.

"Zaira... you..you don't mean that." he muttered, breath uneven, "I just... I just need to ask you again."

His steps quickened, then turned reckless. He had to see her. Had to hear her voice again. Had to look at her and make her understand.

Maybe she'd been nervous earlier. Maybe she hadn't meant it. Maybe she just needed time..needed him closer.

By the time he reached her door, his chest was burning.

He knocked.

Once.

Twice..

Again...

Too hard.

A few seconds passed, each one stretching, clawing at his sanity, before the door finally opened.

Zaira stood there, a soft smile already on her lips.

It vanished the second her eyes landed on him.

"A... Aarvik..." she gulped, fear flashing raw and naked across her face.

His breath hitched at the sight of her. There she was. Beautiful. His.

"Will... will you marry me, Zaira?" he asked suddenly, the words tumbling out like a desperate confession rather than a proposal.

Her face paled.

"I..I told you-"

"WHY?!" he exploded.

"WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?!"

His voice shattered the hallway.

Zaira flinched violently and slammed the door shut, the lock clicking into place.

"Fuck!" He slammed his fist against the door. "Zaira! Open the door!"

He started pounding it, harder, louder, his entire body throwing itself into each blow. The door rattled in its frame, the sound echoing through the hallway.

Inside, Zaira's heart thundered.

"Please..." his voice cracked, turning hoarse, broken. "Please... I don't want anyone else. I don't..please!"

"ZAIRA!"

"ZAIRA!!!"

His fists kept coming, relentless, unhinged.

She stumbled backward, hands shaking, tears spilling as she pressed herself against the far wall.

"OPEN THE DOOR!" he roared.

"ZAIRA!!"

The door shook violently again.

"YOU ARE MINE!" he growled, voice distorted, feral. "MINE!"

He leaned his forehead against the wood, breathing hard, then laughed softly almost wrongly.

She had done this to him.

She had awakened something buried deep inside him, something that refused to be undone. He had fallen too far. Too deep.

And he didn't want to climb back out.

"I want you," he whispered against the door, voice low, obsessive, final.

"I need just you, Zaira."

Aarvik pressed his forehead against the door, breath fogging the wood as if she could feel it on the other side.

His fists loosened, then curled again, trembling, not with restraint, but with the effort it took not to tear the damn door apart.

"Zaira..." he whispered softly now.

"I didn't mean to yell, i..I'm s..sorry." he murmured, slurred with alcohol and desperation. "You know I get angry when I'm scared, right?"

Silence answered him.

He smiled faintly, the expression wrong on his face. For a man that rarely shows emotions.

His fingers slid down the door slowly, reverently, as if tracing her spine.

"I shouldn't have proposed outside," he said suddenly, a hint of irritation creeping in. "Too many people. You don't like attention. That's my fault. I should've known better."

He leaned closer, cheek brushing the wood.

"But you shouldn't have said no," he whispered urgently. "You were just...scared...so you say those things that you don't mean. That's not rejection, Zaira. That's fear. And fear passes."

Inside, her breath hitched.

"I can wait," he promised. "I'm very good at waiting. I've already waited so long for you...I can wait again."

His tone shifted, lower and darker.

"But, I can't wait for long.. Also, don't ever say...No.." he said, pressing his palm flat against the door. "..It hurts when you say that. It makes the demons in my head... loud."

He knocked once. Slowly.

"You belong with me." he whispered.

~♠︎♤♤♠︎~

Another Scene:

"P-please..." Sunny choked, the word coming out of his throat as his breath failed him.

Aarvik's hand was locked around his neck..unyielding and merciless. There was no rage on his face. No cruelty. Nothing. Just the same emptiness.

His fingers tightened more, lifting Sunny slightly off the ground as if he weighed nothing at all.

Sunny clawed at his wrist, gasping, vision blurring.

"Please! Please...I beg you!" Zaira's pleading broke the air.

She dropped to her knees, she sound desperate as her palms pressed together.

Tears streamed down her face. "Please... let him go. Please!"

For a moment, Aarvik didn't move.

Then his gaze lowered, he looked at her. And just like that, he released Sunny.

Sunny collapsed to the floor with a dull thud, coughing violently, dragging in air like it was the first breath of his life.

He curled inward, choking, wheezing..

Aarvik was already walking toward Zaira.

"Stop crying for other men.." he growled.

Zaira's sob cut off, strangled in her throat. She nodded, terrified, obedient..not because she agreed, but because she was afraid of what would happen if she didn't.

"Stand up."

Her legs trembled as she rose, fear making her lightheaded. She couldn't lift her eyes. She didn't want to see his face.

He stepped closer.

"Look at me."

She did.

His eyes, hollow, burning with something that made her stomach heavy...locked onto hers. Slowly, he raised his hand toward her hair.

She flinched. The reaction was instinctive.

It angered him.

His jaw clenched, jealousy flashing beneath his calm. He swallowed hard, then tangled his fingers in her hair anyway, gripping it possessively.

He leaned in, inhaling deeply, her presence was the only thing keeping him anchored.

"I don't want to see any man breathing beside you, Zaira." he said quietly..dangerously. "You are mine."

Her chest tightened. Tears spilled over again, blurring her vision.

Still holding her hair, Aarvik pulled back just enough to look at her face. His thumb brushed her wet cheek.

"Do you understand?"

Zaira swallowed painfully.

She nodded.

She hated him. She feared him. Every part of her wanted to scream, to deny him..to say no.

But she knew.

Saying it out loud would be digging a grave she wasn't ready to fall into.