The door clicked closed behind him with the air of not having any weight, barely a whisper like the apartment hadn't noticed he was back.
Some sort of air moved before his vision focused, something was breathing rapidly, it started soft, then long held, then another inhale he himself hadn't taken. A soft noise came through the air between that wouldn't have shown up unless someone was near enough to forget everything else.
Nero paused in the doorway, staring into the dark before looking up.
The bed dipped under naked and moving bodies, the sheets tangled a mess at the foot, spilling over the side as if kicked aside carelessly.
His girlfriend, Yulie, her hair was spread out on the pillow, clinging to her cheek as her head fell back, lips slightly parted, her hand sliding up along the guy's shoulder with perfect familiarity.
The guy on top of her leaned closer, pressing in again, his mouth finding hers again but slower this time with a kiss, and it was taking its time, like there was nowhere he'd rather be than here.
His shirt rode up, exposing the curve of his waist and the smooth stretch of muscles under skin as his free hand trailed down her side, curling against her waist and pulling her tight.
Nero hadn't moved at all, he just watched in shock. He wasn't expecting to see this at all.
He was just there, standing with his black hoodie hanging loose off his body, sleeves rolled up from before, white sneakers a bit loose from not being properly tied, messy black hair falling unevenly over his forehead. His dark red eyes were staring forward, reflecting the light in the room.
But his hands that were holding a bouquet of flowers, were shaking, either from rage, shock, or both.
'What…?'
That thought didn't have the chance to complete itself, It ran into something and stopped instantly.
Yulie's fingers dug into the guy's back, pulling him down again, lips meeting his once more, her body arching toward his, a knee nudging against his thigh, trying to close what little gap there was between them.
The sound filled the room, a soft and sensual sound actually; leaving no room for anything else.
Nero's vision went a little dim for a second. Not much but the edges went dark like something had tried to shut him out but not quite gotten it done. He blinked once, then twice, with his breath catching in his chest before steadying.
'Am I fucking dreaming?'
His foot moved forward a fraction of an inch, and stopped; His body refused to move with it, stuck in place like the command was lost in translation somewhere between his head and his legs.
Yulie turned on the bed slightly, her hand dropping to run along the guy's side, fingers brushing his waist before curling around him. Her lips parted in a breath then she was pressing up into him again, her face open.
And the memory arrived without preamble: The feel of the sand sticking to Nero's bare feet, the ocean rolling out in front of him, Yulie running ahead then looking back, hair flying back with the wind, laughing at something he couldn't really remember, he was way too in love that day. He'd been complaining about the heat, about sand getting everywhere, how it was stupid to come here when they could stay inside, but she'd taken his hand, yanking him with her anyway.
Nero's fingers twitched again, and thought, 'I told her I loved her…! I don't tell anyone I love them!'
This one hit with more force than the rest, and another memory popped up in his head:
A restaurant that was too bright. That's the first thing he remembered; the lights overhead feeling a bit too exposing like someone was watching even when no one was. Plates clinked somewhere, a burst of laughter from a nearby table, and he'd already dropped down onto one knee, holding out a ring, sure he'd already messed it all up.
A proposal.
"Yulie… you knew exactly how I was in school," he had said, rubbing the back of his neck mid-sentence, having already lost the thread of whatever he'd planned. "I kicked the shit out of anyone who got in my way. I never showed up for class and stuff, and I threw apples at my teacher's head."
A few people at other tables glanced over, but he ignored them.
"But before grandfather just up and died on me, he told me to never lose myself, to find some anchor to hold my happiness. I was a good kid, I guess, when I was little. I liked everything back then… maybe I messed that up somewhere." His voice had dropped a bit on the last words, and he'd forced it up again. "I always wanted to feel in control when my life keeps screwing me over and taking whatever gives me even a tiny bit of something decent. I know I'm reckless and all that, because I want to outrun all that crap." He'd looked up at her, really looked. "But when I met you, I guess I slowed down, you became my anchor. I think? Yeah. Yeah, fuck, I sound awkward right now…"
Yulie had laughed, not quietly, either. That laugh was full of joy, her head thrown back slightly as she placed a hand to her mouth for a moment before nodding her head, still smiling.
"Yes."
He blinked at her. "Huh? Really?! That proposal was straight dogshit!"
"Of course it was!" she'd chirped, still beaming. "But I loved it…"
The memory cut out, and the room snapped back all at once; the bed, the rumpled sheets, the sound of breathing much too close, too familiar for him.
Nero's hand shook with more violence now, he still hadn't moved, he almost felt trapped by his own emotions.
Yulie and the man on top of her stopped for a second, smiling at each other, Yulie finally caressing the man's face, then she tilted her head on the bed, turning towards the doorway.
Everything stilled for a second which felt like an eternity, the movement on the bed coming to a complete stop; her hand halted mid-air, fingers still resting against his side, and her eyes widened.
"N-Nero?!" Yulie exclaimed.
Nero said, "You forgot…I had a key, right?"
Yulie froze, a second after his voice reached her as if something finally shook her out of wherever she'd been, and then everything just came crashing down at once. Her hands flew against the man's chest and shoved him back with an urgency she hadn't felt at all a moment ago.
"Alandale, get off-!"
He stumbled back across the sheets, righting himself with one hand, his breathing becoming shallow as he stared between Yulie and the doorway, the look of confusion on his face gradually morphing into something more guarded.
"Ah great. I thought you said he was at work?"
Closer up, Nero hated how neat he looked with that same relaxed sort of charm that every other guy seemed to pull off without trying nearly as hard. The light blond hair fell carelessly over his forehead, not so much that he looked messy, or so neat that he looked forced, it just laid there like it was meant to be. The deep green color of his eyes was alert even in the shift of the mood beneath him, his build leaned more towards athletic than broad, yet somehow it was just solid enough to be noticeable from his shoulders to his arms when he reached for his shirt.
Nero said silently, "I lied…just so I could surprise her with flowers. Two hundred dollars worth…"
Yulie scrambled upright on the bed, the sheet clutched tight to her chest and pulled around herself like it would somehow make everything disappear as she got to her feet, her long black hair plastered to her neck and collarbone, breathing still unsteady, her amber colored eyes Nero used to stare into for far too long locked onto him now, with something flickering between panic and calculation.
She took a small step towards him with her hand outstretched and palm flat, like her gesture alone was meant to calm everything down.
"Nero... I... I'm so sorry. I just um..."
Her words tumbled out way too fast and were too rough as if she had rehearsed them countless times and could still only get them out like this.
Nero said nothing, he was just simply standing there.
Yulie latched onto this right away, her expression softening from that of sheer terror, her brows pulled together as she took a step closer. "I…I'm sorry you had to find out like this..I always got lonely when you were gone, working long hours and stuff."
Alandale had already begun pulling on his clothes, movements quick as he slipped his shirt over his head without once making direct eye contact with Nero before his hand reached for his shoes.
"You promised me things would change," Yulie continued, her voice speeding up now, her hand still outstretched as if she was holding the space between them together. "You told me I was the anchor you were tethered to. How am I supposed to be that anchor when you're never here when I need you? When you always leave me all alone?"
"Yeah..." Nero muttered. "I'm so bad, aren't I?"
"You drove me to this, Nero, you did. I don't want this, what else was I supposed to do, wait around forever while you do whatever it is you do?"
"Yeah totally." He said nonchalantly.
Alandale took a step over the bed and headed towards the door, his eyes flicking to Nero before turning away again, trying to play this off simple.
"You don't get to play victim right here," Yulie said as she stepped towards Nero again, her voice gaining strength with his continued stillness. "You don't get to walk in here and judge me when you're the one who abandoned me first!"
"Yeah...totally right."
Nero didn't wanna mention how he was always working just so he would spoil Yulie; one would think after hearing that, that this relationship was one sided. But after hearing Yulie apologize, Nero automatically came to the conclusion that Yulie was trying to find some kind of excuse for her cheating, he knew she probably got all lusty and wanted to fulfill that desire real quick. And possibly knowing this Alandale guy for awhile too.
Alandale was finally at the door, and Nero's hand came up before his head turned. His fingers closed around Alandale's forearm, stopping his step with a grip that did not feel like a request.
"You aren't leaving already, are you?" Nero asked, not bothering to turn his head.
Alandale stared at the hand, then looked back up at Nero, his jaw clenching just slightly. "Listen, she said she's sorry, alright? Don't go doing something stupid."
"Oh, yeah?"
"I suggest you let me go," Alandale continued, his voice picking up an edge. "I heard what you did to that one guy in school, but I'm different-"
THOOM!
Nero's fist smashed into Alandale's stomach. The impact sent him bending in half and the air left his lungs in a gasping rush as blood splattered his mouth as he choked on it. His legs went out from under him before he could even realize that they were collapsing.
Nero didn't stop either, his leg came up and smashed into the side of Alandale's head, snapping his neck sideways with the connection before slamming his skull against the wall, denting in the drywall at the impact point.
"Nero stop it!" Yulie screamed, her voice louder now, and her legs beginning to move as she reached for him, her hand just brushing his arm before he grabbed her wrist. He flung her away without even looking at her, her body smacking against the floor as she stumbled and caught herself, her breath catching in her throat.
She got to her feet again, her eyes blazing now. "You see! This is what I was talking about! You said you were changed! That you weren't going to be that person anymore, the monster you became when-when everything happened to you! You said being with me changed you for the better! Maybe you just pretended to love me when deep down you still were violent like you were in school."
Nero paused, not quite but just enough that his body stopped its motion and his head tilted as if he was listening for the first time.
"But look at you!" she continued, pointing at him as her voice cut through the room. "You haven't changed at all! You're still the same pathetic person!"
Nero stood there for another moment, breathing steadily, hand slowly lowering from Yulie's. He knew what she was doing; he had known it from the second she started pushing all the blame back onto him, making sure it stuck this time.
"I know I'm pathetic as hell," Nero stated softly. "I guess I thought being with you could stop the chaos. I guess not. Hell, I never ever gave you a reason to think I was going back to how I used to be. I worked extra just to try and at least keep you happy, and I came to see you when I had the chance, which was a few times a week. Guess this fucking guy bleeding to death on the floor had more time than me? I saw how you looked at him when he was thrusting all inside you. And you had the nerve to tell me you're sorry? How pathetic."
Something moved behind him, Alandale staggered up from the damaged wall, blood smeared across his face, one eye half-shut as he made a guttural noise and shouted as he lunged at Nero, tackling him with all the strength left in him.
Momentum carried them over together, and Yulie got caught between them, all three crashing backwards through the window in an explosion of glass, the apartment rapidly falling away above them as they plunged into the hot and sunny air, shards of glass falling with them to join the descent.
Air rushed past, pushed against Nero's face as everything slowed. He didn't struggle or even try to reach out for anything…
'Fate beat me again... Fuck. It always takes things from me when I feel the slightest bit of happiness from it. Guess that's why I'm so reckless, to try and outrun fate before it takes anything away from me, guess that's why I always wanted to dominate everything, to beat everything, so I can feel like I'm actually in control of my own life. But this is it, isn't it? Good. As long as these two bastards are coming with me. Guess you won, fate.'
The ground rushed up, and everything stopped: Instant death.