I See Red: Simpbur x Reader
Summary: Simpbur notices your ex harassing you at work and decides to take things into his own hands.
Warnings: Blood, violence, mentions of abuse and cheating, night terrors, vomiting
Pairing: Simpbur x Reader
AU: Workplace AU (self-made)
Viewer's Discretion is advised. Tread lightly my loves o7
°~•°~•°~•°~•°~•°~•
You'd broken up with Jared 8 months ago. No 9. Yet you still woke up with nightmares and kept bandaids in your jacket wherever you went. Neosporin too and some Ibuprofen for headaches.
He haunted you with his angry voice and rageful eyes. The hands that could bruise so easily and cut skin with the rings decorating his fingers. Jared was a monster and your co-workers had warned you.
"You alright?" The man across from you leaned over slightly, a guitar in his hands and resting on his knee. Simpbur was what everyone called him but his name tag said Wilbur.
Wilbur was by far your closest friend in the office and when you'd been with Jared it had made your ex livid that you often took lunchbreak with your desk partner rather than him. The Warehouse had lunch and hour after you all in the office did so it was just inconvenient.
"Yeah, just didn't sleep well again." You cleared your throat and resumed the adamant typing you'd paused for to spiral in your own thoughts.
"Nightmares again?" Wilbur asked quietly. The corner you and him worked in was secluded and empty besides the two of you. It reminded you of the HR department in that show The Office. Or the Accounting section of the famous TV show.
"The usual, yeah." You sighed and slumped your head onto your forearms letting out a pitiful groan. "It's ridiculous." You huffed. Wilbur chuckled and clicked a pen. When you looked up he was twisting it swiftly in between his fingers.
"What was this one about?" He asked with a smile. Wilbur was your best friend and somehow a therapist in a way. The man knew an obscene amount about psychology and the brain for such a musically centered being.
"Jared." You mumbled and avoided his coffee brown eyes. The pen stopped clicking and you felt Wilbur shift to a more serious demeanor. "I dreamt that..." You shuddered and nearly gagged at the memory. It was painful but you knew it was better to talk about it than to repress it.
"I dreamt that we were fighting again. Something about him coming back drunk and smelling of a chick's perfume or whatever. It was more a memory than a dream really. I remember a fight like it." You carried on steadily gaining confidence as you spoke. "And he still had a beer in his hand and I told him we were done, I was leaving for good and he smashed it on the counter." Your brow furrowed. The details were horrifying. Clear as crystal in your head by the intrusive images.
"God Will there was glass everywhere." You breathed and felt your hands begin to shake uncontrollably. There was a squeak across the desks and you looked up to see Wilbur standing and walking around to you. He was quiet as he kneeled down and pulled you into his chest. Even in your chair and him on his knees he was just about your height. The man's genetics were absurd.
"There's no glass now darling. Just ceramic mugs." He joked and pulled away with a smile. A goofy, lighthearted smile that hid away the dark and violently crazed look in those brown eyes. The warm mug of coffee they'd been had become a charred log about to crack under the pressure of time.
You laughed and pushed him back, sliding back to your computer with ease.
"Thanks ya Simp. Now get back to work before Clay fires us." You sniffed and watched as Wilbur sat down. He spun in his chair comically and strummed the guitar in a tune that made your morning ten times better and the night terror drift away.
⏳
Five o' clock rolled around and before you knew it you and Wilbur were heading out to each others cars which coincidentally were parked next to each other.
"I'll be down in a sec Wil. I've got some things to put in the spreadsheet first." You said and stretched your arms up. Wilbur smiled and nodded at you before taking his coat and heading down.
It didn't take you long,only about ten minutes. You hoped Wilbur wasn't freezing his ass off in the evening chill that was no doubt settling down on the parking lot.
Just as you were about to walk out the front door someone grabbed your wrist and you turned around to face bloodshot eyes and the horrid smell of rancid beer and whisky.
"Where the Hell do you think you're going?" Jared growled and you immediately pulled away.
"What the Hell do you think you're doing?!" You hissed back and wretched your arm out of his grasp, bolting for the door.
"Get back here! I'm not done with you!" Jared chased you in his drunken stupor but as soon as you made it outside there was someone between you two.
A swift fist blasted through the cold into Jared's face and he fell back easily on his unsteady feet. How the fuck did he get so drunk in the first place?! Alcohol on the premise wasn't allowed under any circumstances. Not even company parties or if someone rented the building.
Wilbur was there on him, picking him up and throwing blow after blow onto Jared. You stood there and watched slightly horrified as your ex managed to land a sloppy blow on Wilbur. You saw blood from his nose but more coming from Jared. His eyes were swelling and cuts festered on his face already.
"Wilbur!" You yelled but your coworker didn't seem to hear. "Wilbur stop! You'll kill him!" You yelled again and Wilbur knocked one more punch into Jared before pushing him away where he fell on the pavement and curled into himself, vomiting and bleeding.
You gagged and looked away.
"Y/N, are you alright?" You nodded at the question and grabbed Wilbur's coat, pulling him away. "Y/N you look like you're about to puke." Wilbur warned and you rushed to the bushes where you did retch out whatever was left of your lunch and odd snacks in between projects.
Wilbur held you steady and pulled away your hair while rubbing shaky circles on your back.
"I-I think I'm done now." You gasped and felt Wilbur get up. A car door opened, there was a tear of something and the pop of a lid, then the car door closed and something damp ran across your face gently as you sat up.
"You shouldn't have done that Wilbur. " You breathed and leaned into his shoulder as your body shook.
"And why not?" He seemed to growl. You shut your eyes to only be greeted by those bloodshot eyes and rancid breath.
"You could get fired for one." You listed.
"The office has security cameras. They'll see I was only protecting you." Wilbur insisted. You opened your eyes to see Wilbur's knuckles busted open and bleeding quite a bit.
"Wil your hands." You lifted his hand carefully. Both your hands shook from the adrenaline. The cold bit at your bodies like a hungry wolf but you didn't care. Both of you probably needed to go to a hospital or something. In the very least a pharmacy to get a first aid kit.
"They'll be fine." Wilbur curled his fingers over yours in an atempt to be assuring. Together your hands shook in each other. You didn't hardly notice Wilbur was still holding you until you caught yourself matching your breathing to his surprisingly calm heartbeat. Was he not scared? Rushed with adrenaline? How was he so calm?
"We should go." You said quietly and could almost hear the despair in Wilbur's chest.
"Why don't you spend the night at my place for a while? Just to make sure he doesn't try anything else." Wilbur offered and his off hand curled around your shoulder. Or maybe it had been like that and your body hadn't realized the touch until now.
You were so aware of your body against his but not at the same time. It felt natural and right.
"That sounds like a decent idea." You nodded and moved to get up, Wilbur didn't let you. He stood up first then helped you to your feet before leading you to the passenger door of his car.
"Thanks Wil." You said gently and climbed in buckling your seat belt quickly. The ride was silent and more than once you caught Wilbur's hand shaking as it reached over to grab yours. You pulled away to look out the window at the scenery passing by aimlessly. Wilbur's knuckles were still torn and you could see the skin yellowing from bodily fluids mixing with the blood of his and Jared's. Gruesome.
"So what're you thinking for dinner then? All I've got is just about some ramen and maybe stuff for a half decent sandwich." Wilbur said after several moments of quiet. Apartment buildings skimmed by outside the window.
"I...Wil I just witnessed a brawl between my best friend and my drunk ass ex abuser. Food is hardly what's on my mind right now, sorry." You admitted. You hadn't meant for it to sound so calloused but it was what was true. Jared's eyes were glued in your mind and even the thought of eating after seeing so much blood was brutal on your stomach.
"Abuser?" Wilbur's voice was soft and this time his hand did grab yours. It was steady and the veins hidden under the skin pulsed to the top like pistons.
You realized your words as you looked at your hands. 'Abuser.' Yes that was what Jared had been to you. An abusive asshole who cheated on you, or perhaps cheated on others with you. You were a fool but he was the one making you so.
"Y-Yeah....abuser." You clarified and started to undo your seatbelt. Wilbur's car parked but he kept the doors locked and shut off the engine.
"Y/N...how badly did that bastard hurt you?" When you looked at Wilbur it was like seeing a whole other person. This was not your best friend. This man in the driver's seat holding your hand looked like someone who would do anything for you. He looked like someone who loved you and wanted to eliminate everything, or one, that might harm you.
Simpbur...
Wilbur's POV (back at the Office)
Nightmares again. Wilbur saw it in your eyes as soon as you sat down. It'd been eight months, twenty-two days, and nearly ten hours since you and him broke up. Eight months and sixteen days since you started telling Wilbur about the night terrors. Some nights you didn't wait, couldn't, until you go to the office and called him instead.
Your ringtone was his alarm, your favorite song by his band Lovejoy. It woke him up like a shockwave every time he heard it. His brain knew it was you in a way. If it was his alarm it meant he was going to work to see you. If it was a call it meant you couldn't sleep.
And every time it was about that guy. The same one you had always been doubtful of but infatuated by nonetheless ever since he was hired. Jared. The prick with the bad haircut in his songs and the one who made you swoon with a wink or giggle with a kiss. The one he had wanted to be.
Had wanted to be. Past tense. Now he made Wilbur see red every time you spoke his name or insinuated his presence. You weren't over him clearly, Wilbur knew this. As your best friend (and personal stalker in a way) Wilbur knew how far gone Jared had led you. Down paths of many tears and persuaded toxic fights.
Jared was a bastard in the lowest of Wilbur's standard. Bastard was like calling the Devil God's Favorite in Wilbur's opinion. It didn't compare to what he really was but still accurate.
"What was this one about?" Wilbur smiled and clicked the pen on and off his chin and fingers as he fiddled with the writing utensil. He watched as your face fell and reached for the memory of the dark dream. He hated seeing that part of you. The part in the spiral and rabbit hole dug by an evil man with a shovel. If you'd let him he would fill those holes and plant willow or apple trees. He'd take you to the garden store and pick out seeds and saplings until every dark spot was lit up with the smell of fruit and fireflies.
"Jared." You mumbled. A shudder rocked your body and Wilbur stopped twirling the pen as you spoke. This one was bad. Not a rerun like some but a new one that clearly should've warranted a call at 4 am or something. He always feared that the times you didn't call him for such terrors was because you couldn't wake up. That you were trapped in those nightmarish worlds.
"I dreamt that we were fighting again. Something about him coming back drunk and smelling of a chick's perfume or whatever. It was more a memory than a dream really. I remember a fight like it." Wilbur's blood boiled in his veins. Of course these were all memories of some kind. Now that he thought of it he remembered you coming into work with several uneasy cuts on your cheeks and arms that you'd tried to cover with concealer. This was before you and him had really been more than morning chatters and lunch break buddies. "And he still had a beer in his hand and I told him we were done, I was leaving for good and he smashed it on the counter."
"God Will there was glass everywhere." You shook and Wilbur spotted tears prickling at the edges of your eyes. His body went into panic mode. Adrenaline rushed him and before he knew what was happening he was holding you to his chest.
"There's no glass here darling. Just ceramic mugs." Wilbur realized how close you were. He could hear your heartbeat, your battered lungs trying to keep whatever plagued you inside like a ship in a bottle. He looked at your face with a smile. The best one he had to try and hide the burning log in his eyes.
Red pricked at his vision as he thought of every possible memory of you coming in limping or with even a bandaid on your finger. Jared was behind your nightmares. Your suffering and Wilbur couldn't stand it.
"Thanks ya Simp. Now get back to work before Clay fires us." You pushed him away and Wilbur played along. That word. Simp. It fueled his fiery desire to punish your ex.
"Check it! Simpbur's moved up the food chain hasn't he?!"
Jared's mocking tone shattered Wilbur's focus as he looked up to see the whole warehouse piling in after him. Wilbur had once been in the warehouse but actually did his work and got moved up to inventory. In the office. He even had his own little desk he could tune guitars at. Away from the picking eyes of his co-workers downstairs.
"That's not my name Jared." Wilbur sighed out and went back to writing down the numbers he was paid to write down.
"Who says? Seems to fit you rather well with how you trail after Y/N." Jared swiped the pencil out of Wilbur's hand and sent a dark lead streak across the spreadsheet. Wilbur agree at the sheet, putting his hand gently onto the paper despite the tension making his veins pop on the back. He kept his head down, breathing.
"Answer me when I'm talking to you, you wanker!" Jared's hands grabbed Wilbur's collar and lifted him out of the chair. Wilbur swung and hit Jared's jaw making him release the inventory keeper. Wilbur was quick to dial the phone to Management.
Before Jared could make another move for Wilbur, Clay Dream picked up the phone and was on speaker.
"Yes Wilbur? Is something wrong?" The cool voice said over the speaker.
"Well yeah, I'm-" Wilbur started but Jared cut in.
"No no! Nothing's wrong Clay! Just a slight mishap with the numbers. We're all good!" Jared rushed out with a murderous look in his eyes as Wilbur tugged a smile off his lips.
"Alright. Glad we got it sorted out." Clay said and Wilbur clicked the speaker.
"Stay the fuck away from Y/N, Simpbur. Or there will be consequences not even Clay can save you from." Jared growled.
"Is that a threat?" Wilbur huffed. "Oh and that's still not my name. Go back to lifting things Jared, before I pull the security footage." Wilbur countered with a devilish smirk.
The two males stared each other down and the one with the broken pencil won.
The rest of the day was a blur to Wilbur. A constant motion of fading conversations behind his eyes as he ran through cords and thoughts. What else had Jared done to you?
He broke a string and it snapped up, slicing at his finger. You were in the bathroom thankfully and didn't hear him unleash the string of curses as he pulled open his bottom drawer. Inside he kept a first aid kit and several boxes of bandaid's and tubes of Neosporin.
Wilbur spiraled in his head and by the time it was 5 'o clock he had enough pent up anger that he knew he would need to go by the market and grab another poster to hang.
"I'll be down in a sec Wil, just got some things to put on the spreadsheet first." You smiled at him and he grabbed his keys, walking downstairs to his car.
The elevator scared him a little so he opted for the stairs. It'd been making a horrible sound as of late.
By the time he was at his car you were rushing out the building with a frantic look and clouds of breath leaving your mouth in panic.
Wilbur was crossing the parking lot in wide strides just as an unstable figure chased you out the office doors. At first Wilbur thought the zombie apocalypse had finally started and a wild fantasy of the two of you being the only humans left on Earth shot into his mind. Then he noticed the hair and nice shirt ironed and combed to perfection despite the disheveled appearance of the rest of the man.
Jared. Jared and he was yelling at you. The cauldron of anger resting in his chest clawed at his throat. At his hands and feet as he crossed the asphalt in a few steps.
A swift fist cut through the air and collided with Jared's face. The clearly drunken man stumbled down and fell. Wilbur knew he should stop now. Get you away from your ex and back home where you could be safe.
But he didn't. He pulled Jared to his feet and let knuckles clash against skin until the cold touched his blood. Until your voice broke his blind rage.
"Wilbur! Wilbur stop! You'll kill him!" You yelled and Wilbur pushed Jared one last time. There was blood in his mouth. When had Jared landed a hit on him? He tapped his own nose and felt a rocketing pain. Broken.
He turned to you in the autumn chill with blood splattering his collar and coating his open knuckles.
"Y/N are you alright?" He said gently and reached out to you. You nodded despite the pale and sickly appearance of your face. You grabbed Wilbur's coat and for a moment he thought you were gonna kiss him as you pulled, but he was wrong as you dragged him towards his own car. "Y/N you look like you're about to puke." Wilbur commented.
Your body was shaking and the cold was clearly numbing your fingers which were bright red along with your nose and ears.
Then you rushed to the foliage framing the parking lot and curb where Wilbur was parked. He was beside you in seconds holding back your hair and rubbing small circles. He had a roommate once, some Hispanic fellow named Quackity, who came home drunk off his head once and Wilbur had done a similar thing but that time he kept a beanie on the guy's head and just patted him lightly.
"I-I think I'm done." You gasped and Wilbur let your hair fall lightly before hopping up off his knees and swinging open his car doors. It was now that he praised his forgetfulness as there was a water bottle sitting in the cup holder. Wilbur grabbed the duffle bag that resided behind his front seat and grabbed the shirt he would've changed into after work today to go to the gym and tore the fabric in two. With a pop of the water bottle lid and dousing of the lump of torn fabric he was wiping your face softly.
"You shouldn't have done that Wil." You huffed and leaned into Wilbur's body. The warmth from you seeped into him and for a moment Wilbur's anger was dwindling. Then he saw the struggling body of Jared stumbling again and again to his feet. Never quite getting up to standing.
"And why not?" Wilbur curled his numbed fingers around your shoulder as the growl crawled out of his throat.
"You could get fired for one." You said matter-of-factly and had the situation not been so dire he might have chuckled,but now he just smiled lightly.
"The office has security cameras. They'll see I was only protecting you." He said insistantly. Clay would understand, Wilbur knew this. They'd been friends since college... Well frenemies really. This job had been kind of a revival for Wilbur so it wasn't a wonder why he was so grateful towards the manager.
"Wil your hands." Your fingers lifted his numbed hand and examined the split skin of his knuckles. Despite the inability to feel anything, he knew your hands would be soft as you applied lotion to them every two trips to the bathroom claiming that the soap made them inexplicably dry.
"They'll be fine." He said, conscious of just how close you were to him. It wasn't a matter of how close you were but how little space separated the two of you. Your were practically in his lap and holding his hand. If it wasn't for the complexity of how you got there he might've enjoyed it a bit more.
"We should go." You said after a moment, perhaps realizing the closeness as well. Wilbur hated to think you wanted to be anywhere but near him so he took a leap of faith.
"Why don't you spend the night at my place for a while? Just to make sure he doesn't try anything else." Wilbur rushed after debating for exactly .2 seconds if it was a good idea, or even reasonable. He was acting on impulse now to keep you close. To keep you safe and beside him.
"That sounds like a decent idea." You agreed and Wilbur was up on his feet helping you into his car before he could really register how happy your words had made him.
"Thanks Wil." You said and climbed into his car. Wilbur was giddy. It was finally happening, though not under the most IDEAL circumstances, he was getting to give you a ride back to his place. A plan festered in his head as he drove. Perhaps he could get Jared fire.
Alcohol on the premises wasnt allowed under any circumstances and Jared was definitely drunk off his ass. Wilbur could smell it in his breath after each punch. As the car heater thawed out his body he was finally aware of just how much his hands hurt. Wilbur tried to avoid looking at his knuckles on the wheel and focus on getting you somewhere safe. Somewhere where he could take care of you and clean his split skin.
Wilbur took another leap of faith as he saw your hand shaking terribly at your side and reached for it slowly. You must've noticed though and quickly retreated to look out the car window. The sting from the indirect rejection was quickly masked by a question. An offer.
"So what're you thinking for dinner then? All I've got is just about some ramen and maybe stuff for a half decent sandwich." He said easily and placed his other hand back on the steering wheel.
"I...Wil I just witnessed a brawl between my best friend and my drunk ass ex abuser. Food is hardly what's on my mind right now, sorry." You stammered out. Not even glancing at Wilbur as your words settled in his brain. A thousand apologies rose on his tongue and died there as his torn knuckles sharpened in pain as he turned the wheels with white fingers into the apartment complex parking lot. Found a spot and stopped. He killed the engine but kept the doors locked.
"Abuser?" Wilbur subconsciously grabbed your hand now. He didn't hesitate as adrenaline took root in his raging heart. Remaining calm was the only thing he could think to do as his heart pounded in his chest and muscles flexed under his shirt and through his hand now holding yours.
"Y-yeah...abuser." By the way your voice echoed in Wilbur's head it seemed like you were finally coming to terms as to what Jared really was. As what Wilbur had always known he was on some level but never dared think he would stoop to it for you. Why would anyone want to hurt you? How bad did he hurt you?
God now all he could see were the days you came into work with bandaids on your fingers from hang nails or a longer skirt, even trousers some days, to cover bruises only Wilbur saw when you sat down. The days your skin seemed paler, covered with more concealer than usual, and staying like that for several following days until it stopped and your cheeks only looked a little more rosy than usual.
"Y/N, how bad did that bastard hurt you?" Wilbur looked at you now. A pleading look in his eyes. He needed to know. He HAD to know just how far that bitch of a dickhead had gone and how far Wilbur needed to go in order to teach him a lesson.
When your eyes found his something clicked behind them. A realization of how far Wilbur was willing to go for you. You finally saw him...and how much he loved you.
°~•°~•°~•°~•°~•°~•
Inspired by the song "I See Red" by Everybody Loves An Outlaw. Granted the lyrics don't fit but the aspect of a blind rage do which is what I used.
Hope you liked it, it took my many weeks to get and several paragraphs were edited and revised like that highschool essay you still probably haven't done.
Goodnight my loves ✨
