Soft Yandere! Self-Aware! Caleb with Inexperienced! Player scenario [part two] 🍎
warnings: aged-up!reader (early to late twenties), fem!reader, possessive behavior, self-aware!au, obsessive affection, cyberstalking, mention of toxic relationships, attempted home invasion.
Hey guys and welcome to the next part in this self-aware AU~! I had made a small post that I was outlining it while on vacation in March, and now we are finally here after three months of so many changes, including a few health issues. Worry not, I did see a doctor and am taking medication to get better~.
Special thanks to @jinwoosbabyboo and @dissociativewriter for their feedback and suggestions that have helped polish the earlier drafts to its current state :3
Comment with a 🍎 if you would like to see a third part in Caleb's route or a 🎖️ if you would like to see more content for this man written on my secondary blog, @acaffeinated-constellation.
Here is part one for those who haven't read it yet~.
divider by @omi-resources
You don’t know if Caleb’s sudden interest in your past romantic relationships is a good thing or just part of a malfunction in the Toring chip that’s implanted in his brain. What could you say to him? That you had been young and dumb, blindly believing that changing yourself as a person would make things better in a relationship that was already falling apart at the seams?
So infatuated with the idea of love and only staying because it was comfortable, and you were happy. That’s at least what you told yourself to help you endure the toxicity of said romance.
You thought at one point it had been all of your fault. Maybe if you did that he will show you the love that you crave so much. Maybe if you did if you did this one thing right for once, he’ll see you and give you the attention and treatment you deserve. You kept telling yourself late at night, sobbing beneath the blankets: it’s all right, I can fix this, I can fix it all and we’ll finally be happy.
It might have been three years since the break-up, but you were still healing; the memories from that time were still difficult to put behind you. You were just starting to find yourself and know your self-worth — you wouldn’t jeopardize that for anyone ever again.
So, no. You will not indulge Caleb’s curiosity. If he can’t respect your boundaries? Well, all you needed to do was press a few buttons, and poof. The app will be gone, freeing up phone storage and extinguishing any chance he’ll have to know you or your past.
“You can’t sweet-talk your way out of this one, Colonel.” You said, eyes narrowing at the pixelated man on the screen. “Your actions will decide how things between us will go from here. Our partnership.”
“Pipsqueak.” Caleb whispered. “You don’t understand. All of this time, I’ve been -”
“Struggling to win over your childhood friend, who is also the love of your life.” You finished. “Focus on yourself, no fussing over my physical and emotional well-being like a mother-hen.” Because if he doesn’t, then there’s still a chance that the other love interests will sweep Miss Hunter off of her feet before he even realizes what’s happened. He had his own problems to worry about. There was no need for him to be worried about you.
The only reason he expressed concern over your health or remotely shut down your work laptop so that you could go to bed at a reasonable hour is because you had the power to change his fate as a player. You could give him the happy ending he desperately wants with the protagonist instead of being cast aside for the other love interests, like Sylus or Zayne.
Xavier made you feel uneasy, and Rafayel was a drama queen. If any of them had become self-aware like Caleb, the consequences would be severe, particularly because their past and present are so deeply connected to the protagonist’s. You were just a bystander; an omniscient viewer who watched everything from behind the scenes, a shadow. No one importance to Caleb or to the context of the Love and Deepspace game.
But enough about Miss Hunter, Caleb, and Love and Deepspace. You needed to complete the large project for Monday’s presentation. The sooner you finished it, the sooner you could relax over the weekend instead of working overtime. And there’s no better way to reward yourself for being a diligent employee than spoiling yourself with a DoorDash’d meal from one of your favorite restaurants instead of cooking. And of course, Caleb was whining about through your earbuds, bemoaning on how his recipes were much more delicious and nutritious than what you ordered online.
“Seriously, Pips. Why do you keep pushing yourself like this?” Great. This conversation has shifted from your diet to your work ethic yet again. Your fingers blitzed across the keyboard and eyes fixed on the screen, hoping the noise would drown out his voice, but sadly, it isn’t a foolproof method.
“I’m not trying to tell you what to do, but you really need to take a break. How long has it been since you took a day off? The overtime pay is not worth putting your health at risk. Didn’t you mention a coworker ended up going to the hospital because they overdid it?” Caleb was silent, then he spoke again in a low, dangerous tone. “Pips, are you listening to me?”
“I hear you.” You said in a clipped tone. “And that’s not what happened. Sarah’s grandmother fell at home, so she spent the whole day with her at the ER.” When is he going to stop calling you that? Pipsqueak is the pet-name he calls the protagonist after seeing him again in Skyhaven.
“My point still stands. You’re overworking yourself, and you need to call it a night. Rest, do something other than sit at your desk looking at spreadsheets.” He responded with the same level of annoyance that simply soured your foul mood even further.
“I will as soon as my dinner arrives.” You answered, stretching your arms over your head with a loud groan before turning to look at him. You hadn’t touched your phone in a couple of hours, and you knew he would be angry if you logged off the app, so you kept Love and Deepspace open. “There’s nothing for you to worry about, Caleb. Shouldn’t you be in bed?” You checked the time on your laptop. “It’s almost nine o’clock.”
“Eight forty-five.” Caleb corrected.
You smirked. “Still pretty late for a guy who gets up at the crack of dawn and doesn’t leave the fleet until seven or eight in the evening. Seriously Caleb, I only have just a few more things to review -” The chiming of the doorbell suddenly pierced through the apartment, causing you to look up from your laptop and eyes widen with delight. “Whoa, that was fast. I thought the DoorDash guy wouldn’t be here for another thirty minutes.” You said, standing up from your desk.
“Hold that thought.” You said as you unlocked the deadbolt, prying the door open, the kitchen lights spilling out from behind you. But even with the crappy outdoor lamp mounted on above your apartment door, you could never forget the face of your ex-boyfriend.
He was standing right there, leaning against the doorway with a lopsided smile and a brown paper bag under his arm before he held it up in the air. “Still a favorite of yours?” He asked smugly.
Your grip on the doorknob tightened. Any words that had bubbled in the back of your throat had evaporated. Your tongue suddenly felt like sandpaper, heart hammering against your chest. How could he act like this, as if he hadn’t shattered you into a million pieces and never looked back to chase down another piece of ass on the street? How arrogant does a person have to be to believe he has done nothing wrong, with the takeout you had paid for and offering it to you as if it were a gift from the heavens?
But more importantly, how the fuck did he find you when you disconnected yourself from his circle of friends, moved to another city, and hadn’t updated your social media accounts since the break-up? How?
Deep breaths, [First Name]. Inhale through the nose, exhale with the mouth. Think of ten impossible things before breakfast. This little mantra was an odd but excellent practice for quelling the triggers of an anxiety attack prescribed by your therapist. As her voice echoed in the back of your mind, you felt your body calm itself long enough to speak.
“Jamie.” God, why did you sound like a frightened child already expecting how she’ll be punished for misbehaving? Why now? “Long time no see.”
“It ain’t been that long, baby-cakes.”
He frowned. “The hell? What’s with the cold-shoulder treatment?” He took one step forward, and you blocked him. That made the jovial expression in his eyes darken. “[First Name], what are you doing?”
“Preventing a stranger from unlawfully entering my residence.” You said.
“You are a stranger, Jaime. Have been for the past three years since we broke up.” You didn’t give him a chance to speak before you slammed the door in his face. But it wasn’t even a minute before you felt the knob twist from the outside, followed by a powerful push.
Your fingers frantically flew across the knob, deadbolt, and barren bolts as fast as they could until the door being pushed from the outside again with a loud bang. You swore under your breath, stepping back from the door in horror as the adrenaline kicked in. Shit, shit, shit!
“I came all this way to see you, and this is my reward? Getting a door slammed in my face?!” Jaime yelled, his voice getting louder with each passing minute. “You don’t know how hard it’s been since you left! I can’t eat, I can’t sleep, and my parents are furious that we broke up! I want us to go back to how things used to be between us, [First Name]! We were a great couple! I worked my ass off to support you, and you always made sure our place was clean and dinner was ready! You might’ve not have made as much money as I did at your job, but you did everything else! That has to mean something, right?! Stop being a little brat and open the door now.”
But you were not letting him in. Not when there was a perfectly good, heavy mahogany table underneath the key hooks to pull in front of the door. You released a low grunt as you heaved it towards you, then pressed it against the door with all of your body weight.
“Pips, is everything okay?” Caleb’s voice crackled in the earbuds. “I heard shouting.”
“Not a good time, Colonel.” You gritted your teeth as you quickly grabbed the ottoman from your living room, pushing it against the table before running to grab its twin and ramming it on the opposite side. “I’m in the middle of barricading myself inside my humble abode so my psychotic ex-boyfriend doesn’t murder me or the neighbors.”
“Uh-huh.” You dashed towards the dining room, grabbing the chairs as fast as you could and trying very hard to ignore at how much louder Jaime’s voice had gotten and his aggressive assault on your doorknob. Damn it, maybe you should’ve grabbed the dining room table and then stacked the chairs.
“[First Name], stop what you’re doing and hide.”
“I’m in a two bedroom and one bathroom apartment. He’ll find me in a matter of minutes. Caleb, you need to let me log off of the app and call for help.” But could you reach your phone in time and shut off the lights, lock yourself in the bathroom? Will the barricade even hold up by the time a cop showed up? You jumped when the door made another loud bang, causing the furniture to skid across the floor.
“Yeah, hiding. Going. Got it.” You whispered, heading towards the office as you flicked the lights off behind you, including the ones in your office after locking the door. You tapped on your phone’s screen, seeing Caleb’s worried face. And your phone battery has sunk towards twenty percent right when your pulse quickened. Nineteen. Shit. “Caleb, I need to log out now.” You hissed, feeling the anxiety crawling up the back of your throat and your legs losing their strength, becoming unsteady and trembling like a baby fawn’s.
“Pips, don’t. Not yet.” Caleb said urgently.
Bangbangbangbangka-thunk.
“I have to. He’s almost inside!”
“No. Just sit tight. I’ll care of this.” Before you could ask what this pixelated man even was talking about, the screen went black. Your hands trembled as you tried to turn it on, but it was no use. The phone was completely dead. Ice chilled your veins at the sound of steady, heavy boots heading toward the door. Someone else was inside the apartment.
Hide. Your body screamed. Hide and don’t make a sound.
You didn’t need to be told twice as you quickly dove underneath the bed, your phone fallen onto the carpet and out of reach. You clamped a hand over your mouth, eyes wide and ears straining to listen, but all you could hear was the clattering and scrapping of furniture being removed. It was a good ten minutes before you heard the front door open, and what sounded like a firm command to leave the premises or else the authorities would be called echoed. This voice was…familiar, somehow. But where?
“-fuck are you? That bitch’s side piece?”
The door then slammed shut. Although the voices became muffled, it actually got louder than silent. Jaime was yelling, sounding too cocky, and then a low grunt and a thud. Then another grunt, a cry, and…. a scuffle? You couldn’t tell exactly what was going on in what order, but you had no intention of leaving your hiding place just to satisfy your curiosity. The voice spoke again, quieter and more intimidating and you couldn’t understand the words.
The front door slammed shut. You heard the locks scrapping across the wood clickclickclick and then the footsteps. The footsteps were getting closer and closet until they stopped right in front of your office. As if whoever was on the other side knew you were hiding.
“Pipsqueak?” A beat of silence passed. “Pips, it’s okay. You can come out.” Caleb whispered. “He won’t bother us anymore.”
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