CW: use of a collar (NON-SEXUAL), kidnapping, yandere and possessive Caleb, fluffy angst ig
Word count: 778
Caleb snapped the collar around your neck. It locked automatically, only unlocking with his finger print. He had chosen a sleek, black collar with a bell on the front, the bell ensured that he could hear you wherever you were. The collar had a built in tracking device. After your... little stunt, he wasn't taking any chances. You had tried to escape your shared house in Skyhaven again. He honestly should just lock you in your room. But he was giving you another chance. And what fun would it be if he wasn't greeted by you every day? It's not like you could leave the house without him knowing anymore, he had coded everything to only open if he allowed it. You were trapped.
You protested. You begged. You didn't want a collar. But it could've been worse, right? You had escaped only a week ago, and had been captured within 24 hours. Caleb was meticulous. He knew your every move. He had found you outside a convenience store. You forgot to bring money with you. You had only had a short window of time to escape after all.
Caleb had waited, just long enough that you felt defeated. Just enough time so that you didn't have any energy to run when he found you. He kneeled in front of you, grabbing your wrist. He tried to make eye contact with you, but you continued to avoid his gaze. He left out a tsk and grabbed your face to force you to look at him.
"Are we done playing this game, Pips?"
You could feel your blood run cold at his words. GAME? Did he really think this was a game? You seeking independence and him denying it was a GAME? But you were too tired to run anymore. Maybe it was better to just give in... I mean, you wouldn't have to run anymore. You would get 3 meals a day... Maybe just at the price of your freedom... But what was the alternative? Keep running from Caleb forever? You knew you wouldn't be able to do that. Caleb would be able to find you every single time. He had been able to.
You let out a meek nod. There was nothing you could do. This was just how it had to be.
"Good girl pipsqueak. I knew you would come around," Caleb smirked. He was pleased that you finally came to your senses. But he would still need to take... precautions.
The two of you retuned to Skyhaven. He let you be. The first week was normal. Nothing had happened, yet. And then he came home with that. The collar. He had put it in a cute present box. He had sat you down on the couch. Handed it to you.
Your heart thumped as you held the box in your hands. It had a pretty bow of your favorite color. You didn't know what it could be. You glanced at Caleb, but all he gave you was an encouraging smile.
"Open it, Honey. It's a gift."
You slowly untied the bow and opened the box. A collar. A black collar with a bell on it. This had to be a joke. You turned your gaze frantically to Caleb, but his smile only widened. He was pleased. He gently took the collar from your trembling hands and held it in front of you.
"Since you had escaped last time Pipsqueak, I had to think of an appropriate punishment. And what could be better than a collar? I'll be able to know where you are at all times and whoever sees it will know that you belong to me. Now hold up your hair so I can put it on you."
You numbly held up your hair, more so out of shock than anything. You should've known that something was wrong when Caleb let you be after you had escaped.
He slipped it around your neck.
Click.
Now there was no chance of ever escaping Caleb's grasp again. You were trapped, forever.
Caleb watched you with a satisfied grin. You would get used to the collar, he reasoned. He hooked a finger under the front of the collar and pulled you towards him. You watched him with wide eyes, wondering what his next move was. Oh how he loved that expression. You were just like that cat he had found. This time, all he did was kiss your cheek. "Don’t worry, honey, you'll get used to it. You'll come to love it, just as much as I do."
You doubted that.
But all you could do was give him a weak smile and hope for the best.
UNIVERSITY AU | student Caleb x fem!OC (student), Caleb x non-MC | yandere!Caleb
Synopsis: A little lie about a fake boyfriend was supposed to make her life easier. Instead, it caught the attention of Caleb Summers, the campus "golden boy" who was looking for a new toy. Now, what started as a pretend relationship has become a masterclass in psychological warfare. He was supposed to be her shield, but he became her cage. And he has no intention of letting her go.
🔞 Tags & warnings: Yandere!Caleb, Dark!Caleb, Unhealthy Relationships, Dub-con, Sexual Harassment, Blackmail, Power Imbalance, Psychological Manipulation, Angst, Drama, Fake Relationship, Gray Morality, Unrequited Love, Possessive Behavior, Obsession, Psychological Control, Jealousy, Non-MC, Original Female Character (OC)
Word count: ~5.3k (complete?)
***
Loneliness makes us perfect victims for those who know how to play on our fears.
The Silence of the Lambs
****
Lorelai often thought that any lie was like a snowball.
It starts with an innocent, tiny fabrication, and then begins rolling downhill, accumulating new layers of deception, growing bigger and heavier until it transforms into an avalanche capable of sweeping away everything in its path.
But what if the truth was even more terrifying? What if the truth meant returning to that sticky, suffocating loneliness that had haunted her entire life?
She remembered all too clearly those humiliating school years when she'd hide in a bathroom stall during lunch because eating alone in the cafeteria was too painful. She remembered the yellow sticky notes from her mother, carelessly stuck to the fridge: "Lori, make something for dinner. Will be late, Mom." She remembered how the silence of the empty house pressed down on her with crushing weight, forcing her to turn the TV on at full volume just to create the illusion of someone else's presence.
When she got into university, a naive hope had firmly settled in her heart that everything would change.
Maybe here she could finally find her place in such a complex social system. Maybe here she'd stop being the eternal invisible girl. Maybe she'd understand that her social life hadn't come to a complete end yet.
So when fate brought her together with Kaylie Harris — a bold girl with a wolf cut and an equally sharp tongue that somehow hadn't prevented her from getting into the engineering program — and Iriel Seabrook — the living embodiment of grace and refinement — Lori felt like her dream was coming true.
Everything was going perfectly until one evening they started talking about guys.
Kaylie was casually twirling a strand of dark blue hair around her finger when she "complained" about her love life problems:
"Sylus gave me a new leather jacket yesterday. Says the old one doesn't match his girlfriend's status. Sometimes his controlling nature really irritates me, but..." She shrugged with a poorly concealed blissful languor. "There's a certain charm to it, I suppose."
"Rafael threw another fit because I talked to a classmate," Iriel added quietly, hugging her knees. "Spent two hours convincing him there was nothing between us. I think his sensitivity is just another form of control too."
And then Kaylie turned to the silent Avery.
"What about your love life? A sweetheart like you couldn't possibly be single."
Lori's heart immediately dropped to her feet.
What should she do?
Admit she had no one? That she'd spent all of high school dreaming of the vanilla shoujo and otome game romance, but real guys simply didn't notice her? That her experience was limited to fantasies and reading shoujo manga?
"I... I have a boyfriend too!" she blurted out spontaneously, not believing what she'd just said.
Both girls immediately perked up, leaning forward with interest.
"Really? Tell us about him!"
And so the innocent Lori, who used to be afraid of saying an extra word, began weaving her web of lies. Tentatively at first, then with growing confidence, feeding on her friends' admiration and the feeling that she was no worse than anyone else.
"He's... he's a senior. Very smart and athletic. And also..." The little liar blushed, getting into details. "He likes anime too."
"Seriously?" Kaylie was genuinely surprised. "Wouldn't expect that from a jock."
"Yeah, he... he even reads manga. And he reads..." She hesitated, blushing even harder. "He reads hentai, but that's between us."
The rebel wasn't surprised by that at all:
"Men! They're all the same."
After exchanging glances, the girls soon burst into unrestrained cheerful laughter, allowing her to forget for a moment about the price of such a small lie. For the first time in her life, Lori was "one of them," she was interesting, she was normal.
She couldn't let this chance slip away!
As weeks passed, the lies began accumulating more details. At one of their slumber parties, when the conversation turned to more intimate topics, Lorelai "shyly" admitted that she and her boyfriend practiced light domination.
"You know, like it often happens," she whispered bashfully, hiding her face in a pillow. "Tying hands, sometimes eyes... H-he can be quite... commanding."
Impressed, Kaylie whistled at their sweet friend's secret, while Iriel blushed like a poppy, but didn't stop asking for details, allowing Avery to feel like a truly experienced and mature woman — even if only in her fantasies.
But sooner or later, any lie starts showing cracks.
The girls' first suspicions appeared a month into their friendship.
"Show us his picture!" Kaylie demanded when they were sitting in the cafeteria at lunch. "You talk about him so much, but you haven't even shown us a photo."
Lorelai went cold immediately. Of course, she could download someone's photo from the internet, but what if the girls recognized a model or actor? Or suddenly asked to meet him in person, not in a picture?
"He's... he's very modest," she mumbled guiltily, clenching her napkin. "Doesn't like being photographed."
"Just one photo!" Kaylie persisted. "How about this — I'll show you new photos of Sylus from our California trip, and you show us your mystery boyfriend."
"What's his name anyway?" Iriel asked, and an alarming note of suspicion sounded in her melodic voice. "You've never mentioned his name."
Lori felt how the deceptively fragile balance of her inner world was beginning to turn into pitiful splinters. A name! How could she have forgotten such an important aspect of someone's biography? Even an imaginary boyfriend couldn't exist without a name!
"It's... it's personal," she objected weakly. "I'm not ready yet..."
"Lori," Iriel suddenly leaned closer, giving her a serious look with her gray-blue eyes. "Does he even exist? You can trust us. If you don't have anyone, that's okay. Not everyone has to be dating someone."
Oh God, oh God, oh God.
They were already catching on!
Her stupid, vile lie was about to crumble to dust and the girls would find out literally everything: that she was a pathetic virgin who hadn't even managed to kiss anyone in her life, that all her knowledge about sex came from adult otome games and josei manga.
"Of course he exists!" she exclaimed too loudly. "It's just... he's in a different program, and we rarely cross paths at university."
But she saw the seed of doubt settling in them.
In their gazes, something like pity even flickered, and that was worse than any accusation of dirty deception.
****
Salvation came unexpectedly.
Or rather, what she thought was salvation at the time.
It happened on a Wednesday. Lori was sitting in a coffee shop near campus, hypnotizing with a dull gaze the plate with a half-eaten tiramisu in front of her — her traditional antidepressant. Her lie was cracking at the seams, the girls were starting to suspect deception, and she had not the slightest idea how to get out of this tangled situation.
That's when she saw... him.
He was sitting at a table by the window, and the light breaking through the large stained glass windows cast a couple of playful sun bunnies on his dark hair. Tall, with perfect facial and body proportions, the guy looked as if he'd escaped from the perfect world of otome games about a childhood friend. Next to him sat a girl — obviously his sister, judging by the similarity of their features — whimpering something capriciously, pouting offendedly at his laughter.
Her mouth went dry at such a catastrophic coincidence.
He was exactly how she'd always imagined her ideal boyfriend. Not too muscular, but clearly athletic, with an intelligent gleam in the depths of those incredible eyes the color of pale violets, which she caught when he turned in her direction.
The impulse came suddenly, practically against her will.
Lori snatched her phone and in seconds took several quick shots.
The quality wasn't ideal. Too far, and she was trying to be inconspicuous, but his face was distinguishable. Moreover, he looked exactly like her dream boyfriend should look.
She naively thought then that this was the perfect alibi.
Overjoyed, Lori didn't even think to protest when the next day her friends once again began asking about her mysterious boyfriend, and with the most natural look, she pulled her phone from her bag.
"Here he is."
Kaylie immediately snatched her smartphone, pressing close to the screen, and Iriel politely peeked over her shoulder.
"Wow!" Kaylie gasped sincerely. "He's gorgeous! Where did you even find someone like that?"
"He really is very handsome," Iriel agreed after retreating into herself for a few minutes with a strange note in her voice. "But, you know, I think I've seen him somewhere before."
The world around Lorelai swayed.
She hurriedly took back the phone from Kaylie, forcing out a nervous laugh.
"You're imagining things," she mumbled. "He just has... striking features. All handsome guys look alike, that's why they remind everyone of each other."
Unfortunately, Iriel didn't abandon the idea of remembering where she'd seen her friend's boyfriend's "double."
And Lori spent the rest of the day in a state of panicked anxiety.
What if Iriel had really seen him somewhere? What if he was quite well-known at their university? Oh God, did that mean he attended their university? What if he was a model or an actor?
Stupid, stupid Lori.
She thought she'd chosen the perfect solution, but had actually only made the already dire situation worse. Now she had a face that could be recognized. A name she didn't know. And a story that could fall apart from one chance encounter.
But fate apparently decided to play a cruel joke on her.
****
The meeting with the object of all her troubled thoughts happened a week later, in the cafeteria crowded with other students. Lorelai was standing in line for lunch when Kaylie suddenly began excitedly tugging at the sleeve of her soft beige sweater:
"Lori! Lori, look! That's him!"
Suspecting nothing, she obediently turned back and felt all the blood drain from her face.
Her friend's finger was pointing directly at a table in the far corner of the hall, where... HE was sitting. That same guy from her technically illegal photograph. Alive, real, and most importantly, having a casual conversation with a group of his friends, not even suspecting that his life was about to intersect with the lies of one pathological liar.
"Oh my God," Iriel exhaled, struck by realization. "I knew I'd seen him somewhere! That's Caleb Summers, captain of our basketball team!"
Caleb Summers.
Now her lie had a name.
"Caleb Summers?" Kaylie repeated, lighting up with interested fire at the mention of her favorite sport. "That 'golden boy' of campus? Lori, have you been dating a local celebrity this whole time and kept quiet about it?!"
Local celebrity.
Team captain.
Campus golden boy.
This was a hundred times worse than anything she could have imagined. How would she explain why he didn't know her? How would she justify the fact that they'd never appeared in each other's company?
"Let's go introduce ourselves!" Kaylie announced enthusiastically, grabbing the internally dying friend by the hand. "I want to get a closer look at your prince!"
"No!" Lorelai screamed too sharply, attracting the attention of those around them. "I mean... he doesn't like being bothered during meals. Very focused on nutrition, athlete and all... L-let's not bother him and leave?"
But outsmarting Harris was an impossible task, so five minutes later, Lori, who'd been futilely digging her heels into the floor, was already being purposefully dragged by the hand through the entire hall to her future place of social execution, while Iriel not very successfully pretended not to see Avery's pleading eyes.
With each step, the panic in Lori's chest only grew heavier.
Now everything would be revealed.
He'd say he'd never seen her before, the girls would realize she'd been lying, and she'd become the laughingstock of the entire university for the next four years.
When they stopped at their table right in front of Caleb, he immediately looked up from his plate, stopping his laughter at one of his companions' jokes. The gaze of his light purple eyes slid over the curious girls, lingered on Lorelai, and looked at them with slight bewilderment.
"Hi!" Kaylie gave him a wide smile, suspecting nothing. "We're Lori's friends. She's told us so much about you!"
Caleb shifted his gaze from Kaylie to Lorelai, and she saw in his eyes an unspoken question about what was even happening here. The poor guy clearly didn't understand what was going on, but to her relief, was too well-mannered to immediately say he didn't know this girl.
"Lori?" he repeated in a pleasant voice with a slight huskiness.
"Yes, your girlfriend!" Kaylie wrapped her arm around the shoulders of Lori, who was trembling with unclear feelings, stretching the corners of her lips into a teasing smile. "So shy, she even refused to show us a photo at first."
In that moment, Lorelai realized she had only one way out: either confess to the deception right now in front of everyone and possibly ruin her reputation for the rest of her time at school, or... ask him to play along.
Her heart began pounding somewhere in her throat when she suddenly grabbed Caleb's hand and pulled him toward the exit.
"Sorry, but we really need to talk," she mumbled apologetically to the confused girls. "See you later!"
To her surprise, Caleb didn't even think of resisting and allowed her to calmly lead him out of the cafeteria without any problems, only throwing to the friends remaining at the table that he'd be back soon.
They stopped only on an empty porch, after passing several turns, where Lorelai could finally catch her breath.
The guy looked at her with obvious curiosity and a barely noticeable smile.
"So," he began casually. "I don't think we actually know each other. I'm Caleb Summers."
Lorelai felt her cheeks flush with bright color.
"I... I'm Lorelai Avery," she mumbled, and then, gathering her courage, clasped her hands together in front of her and bowed as low as she could. "And I'm terribly, terribly sorry! B-but I lied to my friends that I had a boyfriend, and then I showed them your photo, which I secretly took at a coffee shop, and now they think you're my boyfriend, and I understand how stupid and terrible this sounds, but I really didn't mean to deceive anyone, it's just..."
Words poured from her like an inexhaustible stream, but she couldn't force herself to stop, even when she heard his quiet laugh.
"Breathe," he gently commanded, and Lorelai was forced to fall silent, helplessly sobbing. "If I understand correctly, you photographed me without permission to prove to your friends that you have a boyfriend?"
Squeezing her eyes shut, Lori nodded without raising her head or unbending her back, which was beginning to stiffen.
"And now they think we're dating?"
Another nod.
"And you're very afraid they'll find out the truth?"
"I'm afraid. Th-they'll think I'm a pathological liar. And they'll be right."
Caleb was silent for a few seconds, which made her prepare for the worst. Now he'd return to his friends, tell them a funny story about a crazy stalker, her reputation would be destroyed, her friends would turn away from her...
"You know what," he finally said with a note of barely noticeable amusement. "I'll help you."
She immediately raised her head to look at him, distracted from the terrible scenes flashing before her eyes of people moving away from her at lunch, whispering that this was that same girl who takes illegal photos of handsome guys:
"What?"
"I'll play the role of your boyfriend," Caleb explained, and his smile widened. "Temporarily, of course. Until you figure out how to get out of the situation more easily."
"But why?" Avery exhaled in amazement. "You don't even know me!"
Caleb shrugged with the air of someone tired of the monotony of his life, though the depth of his gaze became several shades darker.
"Maybe I'm just curious what a girl is willing to do to not be alone," he admitted quietly.
Lori felt such relief that she almost fainted. The tears she'd been holding back with such difficulty finally burst out.
"Thank you," she sobbed convulsively. "Thank you, thank you, thank you! I promise, it's not for long! I'll fix everything, find a way to find a real..."
"Hey!" Caleb interrupted, hurrying to hand her napkins. "Don't worry so much. Everything will be fine."
And so began this strange game of playing a sweet couple.
Caleb turned out to be a surprisingly good actor. When they returned to the table where everyone else was sitting, he hugged the blushing Lori around the waist with such naturalness that even she began to doubt whether his hand hadn't always been there.
"Sorry for running off like that," he told the others with a charming smile. "Couldn't wait for a break to be alone with her. By the way, did I introduce her already? This is Lori — my girlfriend."
****
The most beautiful and most terrible chapter of Lori's life began with a fairy tale.
Caleb played the role of the perfect boyfriend with such mastery that it was easy to forget it was all still a lie and pretense. Between classes, he always brought her favorite coffee — vanilla latte. After lectures, he tirelessly walked her to the dorm. In the presence of her friends, he never tired of hugging her shoulders.
His touches were gentle, his smiles warm, and his words exactly the kind that would melt any girl's heart.
"You look especially charming today," he'd say briskly, meeting her in the morning at the building entrance.
"I thought about you all night," he'd whisper playfully in her ear during lunch.
"I have the sweetest girlfriend!" he'd declare proudly in the presence of her friends.
Under the warmth of his light, she bloomed like a flower.
For the first time in her life, Lori felt desired, valued, worthy of love.
Kaylie and Iriel, of course, were absolutely delighted. Finally they could see Lori's legendary boyfriend in person, and moreover, he fully met all their inflated expectations.
Not to mention that his popularity at the university even affected her. Girls who previously hadn't noticed her existence now greeted her in the hallways. Guys who considered her invisible began paying more attention, apparently trying to understand what had attracted Caleb to her.
"How did you manage to hook him?" female classmates asked her with poorly concealed envy. "Caleb could have chosen absolutely any girl!"
Soon Lorelai even began to feel toward him not just deep gratitude, but... real, genuine feelings. Well, how else? How could she not fall in love with such a man? He was everything she'd dreamed of — strong but gentle, smart but not arrogant, popular but treating everyone with equal attention.
And then the "jokes" began.
The first truly alarming bell rang during their walk in the park after lectures. They were sitting on a bench, sipping drinks from a vending machine that he'd bought: an energy drink for himself and a strawberry cocktail for her. Caleb was telling some funny story about his coach, making her laugh out loud, when he suddenly fell silent.
"You know, Lori-pop," Caleb casually remarked, taking a sip from his can and leaning back against the bench. "We have quite an unusual relationship."
"In what sense?" she didn't understand.
"Well, think about it. Usually guys get something in return for such favors."
She awkwardly shifted in her seat, suddenly feeling... uncomfortable.
"I... I don't understand."
At this answer, Caleb turned to face her, and something strange flashed in his violet eyes, something that made Lori instinctively tense. Though the smile on his full lips remained the same — charmingly good-natured.
"I was just thinking that if we want our game to look convincing, we should... How should I put this... add more realism."
"'Realism'?"
"For example," he tilted his head to the side with the same innocent expression. "You could unbutton your blouse. Just a little. For authenticity."
Lori felt the world around her freeze.
Even the rustling of leaves fell silent, and the only audible sound for her was the deafening beating of her own heart.
The rational part of her mind screamed that this was wrong, that no one would see them here, that this was not just a strange but a perverted request. But another part — the one that was head over heels in love with him — whispered that maybe he really just wanted to make their game more convincing.
For realism.
"I... I don't even know," she mumbled embarrassedly, turning her gaze to the pink package of milk cocktail in her hands.
When Caleb squinted in irritation, the smile on his lips became even softer.
"You don't want your lie to be exposed, do you?" he asked in such a casual tone, as if talking about the weather. "It would be very awkward to explain to the girls that you... made it all up."
The words fell on her like icy drops of the first rain.
There was no threat in his voice, but the unspoken hint was clear as day.
She tried to peer into the depth of his lilac eyes and suddenly realized she didn't recognize the kind guy who had agreed to help her.
"C-Caleb," she whispered. "I..."
"They're just buttons," he pressed with the same charming smile. "What's so special about that?"
The first button gave way with a quiet click.
Caleb watched without looking away, and Lorelai felt his gaze literally burning her skin, but couldn't stop. What if he was actually right? What if this was necessary to maintain their deception?
The second button.
The third.
With each unbuttoned button, the blouse revealed more and more creamy skin, making his gaze increasingly tangible. Hungry. When she reached the fourth button, revealing the cleavage between her breasts in a white lace bra, Caleb couldn't hold back a quiet sigh.
"Good girl," he praised her hoarsely. "Very good girl."
When the white lace of the bra peeked out from under the ironed fabric, she desperately looked up at him, silently begging him to stop. But Caleb remained silent, only sliding his gaze to the cleavage between her breasts and... swallowed.
On the last button at the collar, her hands trembled so hard that she couldn't hold back a sob.
"The last one too," he whispered impatiently.
Unbuttoning the last obstacle before her modesty, Lori embarrassedly lowered her sweaty palms to her knees, feeling how another gust of wind passed over her unprotected skin, making her small soft belly tremble.
Caleb stared without blinking, and kept clenching and unclenching his fist on his knee, as if restraining himself from touching, while Lori fought back the tears welling in her eyes.
And then he suddenly burst out laughing. Light and carefree laughter that made him grab his stomach.
"It was a joke!" he squeezed out through his laughter, waving his hand. "God, you should have seen your face! I was just joking, Lori. Button it back up."
Lorelai blinked, not immediately understanding what was happening.
A joke? He was joking?
Relief mixed with embarrassment, and she hurried to button her blouse back up, uncertainly picking up his contagious laughter.
"You... you scared me," she forced out a quiet laugh.
"Sorry," but there was no true remorse in his voice. "I didn't mean to. Just couldn't help myself. You're so funny when you're embarrassed."
Lori smiled uncertainly in response.
Of course, a joke.
Caleb was still a good guy and he just had a very specific sense of humor. Being considerably disconnected from the world, she as always took everything too seriously.
But the unpleasant residue inside remained.
****
You thought that was uncomfortable? It gets so much worse.
