. 𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗵

__________________

Two-toned lips, stained bloody with red wine, quivered as you tried to steady your breath.

Golden mocha limbs that clashed with his evenly tanned olive skin in a dance of something fierce, something dangerous. Your white dress clung to you like a second skin, damp from the rain that drenched your trembling frame, your body sopping wet and shivering terribly in this chaotic scene.

Every cold droplet felt like a sharp contrast to the heat coiling in your chest, much like there usually was when he was around. Something unexplainable. Like something that was programmed to self-destruct when you got too close.

Your pools-of-honey eyes glared up at him, defying the calm indifference carved into his sharp features. Despite the chaos between you, his expression remained deliciously unreadable— a ghost of satisfaction curling at the corners of his lips. But you knew better. You could see the crack beneath his composure, the smoldering intensity barely restrained. Another thing you felt conflicted about; knowing him.

"Why?" you demanded, your voice raw as the rain trickled down your face, mocking your attempt at strength as your wet curls clung to your cheeks. You looked like an art piece, beautifully capturing what it looks like to feel destroyed from the inside out. Your trembling arms pressed against his chest firmly, a subtle promise that any wrong move would result in your lashing out at him— both a warning and a plea for distance he would never give.

"I told you, you're mine." The words rolled off his tongue smoothly, his viridian eyes never leaving yours. A smirk teased his lips, arrogant and dangerous. "Always have been. Always will be."

Your jaw clenched impossibly tight, trying your damnedest not to snap or demand an explanation, despite the desperation coiling tight in your veins. "You're wrong," you bit out, though your voice breaks and your furrowed brows twitch, almost giving way to the floodgate in your eyes. "I don't want to be yours."

Your slender fingers curled tight into a fist, clenching his soaked shirt in your hands as you tried to get something more than indifference out of him. "I don't."

Eren's hand shot out, capturing yours in one swift motion. His grip was firm but not cruel, though your gaze dropped to his glinting rings and the slits on his knuckles. They still ooze with a deep, dark blood that rivaled your lips. But you knew it wasn't just his blood that was smeared on his rough hands and that thought sent a shiver down your spine. "You've forgotten what the rules are," he warned, his voice low and dangerous. "And what happens when you break them."

"No, I haven't," you snapped, words tumbling out faster than your mind could process. "You're just too scared to admit that you can't control me. That you never will."

His viridian eyes flashed dangerously, and in an instant, his hand moved to your jaw, tilting your face up toward him. His fingers were cold and unyielding, the grip forcing you to meet his gaze as his lips hovered dangerously close to yours. "Watch your mouth," he whispered, the menace in his voice coiling around you like a noose. "Or do I need to remind you how this works?"

Silence pressed between you, broken only by the relentless patter of rain on asphalt. Every inch of you burned with the urge to lash out, to fight him, but the weight of his presence made your limbs feel heavy. "God, I can't stand you," you hissed, your anger finally spilling over as you yank away from him. You nearly fell on your ass as you stumbled back, barely catching yourself. You sigh shakily as you run a hand through your soaked curls, trying to steady the unrelenting tremor in your chest. "You're insufferable."

"And you're ignorant," he countered smoothly, his calm tone somehow more infuriating than any shouting match could have been. "You think time and space revolves around you? Darling, the facts don't care about your delusions." He closed the distance between you in long strides, crouching to look you in the eye. His viridian gaze glinted in the dim light, as if glowing faintly in the silent, empty street, a street lamp or two doing little to brighten the place up.

"No," your breath hitches uncontrollably as you suck in panicked gasps.

"Oh, but yes. Your place," he taunts and leans in close to whisper, while you instinctively squeeze your eyes closed, jerking your head away, white-knuckling the hem of your dress. "Is with us. With me. You belong to me. And I have you right where I want you." The rain dripped from his dark lashes as he leaned in close, his wet lips brushing against your temple— ice meeting fire. His touch seared you to the bone, as if he'd left a mark only he could see. Like an imprint. "No one will take you away from me. Not again."

You trembled as he leaned back, his words still burning through you. "I'm not-" you gasped, but he cut you off.

"I'm not him, Y/n," he murmured, his tone soft yet steeped in finality. "And things will never be how they used to... but one thing will remain the same. I see you mingling around with other guys, and I'll kill them." His voice dropped lower, dragging your breath down with it. "You understand? Say it. Who do you belong to?"

Your eyes flutter open, and you look up at the large building across from the two of you. The one you were dragged out of moments before any of this. Its towering structure loomed over you both, a chilling monument to the consequences of crossing him.

"You."

The word slipped out before you could stop it, bitter and heavy on your tongue. You hated how easily he could pull it from you, hated how much power he still held.

Eren's smirk grew, feral and devoid of humor. It was the expression of a man who had won, even if the battle was far from over.

"Good girl."