The rain was a deluge.

Sheets of water hammered the windows of the coffee shop, blurring the world outside into a gray, indistinct smear.

The cafe, usually a haven of warmth and chatter, felt cold today, the usual comforting sounds of clinking cups and whispered conversations a distant.

He sat across from Rain, the scent of freshly brewed coffee thick in the air, but all he could smell was the bitter, fear rising in his own throat, a taste he knew he wouldn't be able to wash away.

She was talking, her voice a soft.

"...and then, you know, Mrs. Davison said I was the best baker in class! Can you believe it? Best baker!" She giggled. "He said I should open my own bakery someday. Just imagine, Y/N!" She clapped her hands together, her smile widening.

Y/N nodded, his gaze fixed on her, but he wasn't really listening to the words.

"That's great, Rain" he managed to say, his voice flat, devoid of any genuine enthusiasm. He couldn't fake it anymore. The sweetness, the smiles, the forced normalcy it was all an act, and it was a goddamn terrible one at that.

He was a terrible actor. He could feel her watching him, dissecting his every expression, every gesture.

Rain's smile faltered, just for a moment. "You don't seem very excited" she said, her voice losing a fraction of its sweetness. "Aren't you happy for me, Y/N? Aren't you proud?"

He looked down at his hands, clenching them into tight fists under the table, fighting back a surge of panic.

He had to be careful. He had to tread lightly, like he was walking on broken glass. He knew, somehow, instinctively, that this was a tipping point, a precarious precipice. One wrong word, one wrong move, and everything everything could shatter, and there would be nothing left to pick up.

"Yeah, Rain, I am" he said, forcing a smile, a weak, pathetic imitation of the real thing. He willed the tremor from his voice. "Of course, I am. It's... it's amazing. You deserve it."

She watched him, her gaze intense, probing, like a surgeon preparing to make an incision. "But you don't sound like it" she said, her voice dropping. "You sound distant. Like you're not really here. Like you're pulling away."

He looked up at her then, meeting her gaze, holding it, forcing himself to meet her stare with a gaze that was hopefully neutral. "Rain, I'm tired," he said, his voice quiet. "I haven't been sleeping well lately. And school's been stressful. I just need a little space, you know? A little time to myself."

The word hung in the air between them, a single, simple word loaded with the weight of a thousand unspoken fears.

Space.

He wanted to scream.

"Space?" she repeated, her voice losing all pretense of sweetness now, becoming cold. "Space? What do you mean, space, Y/N? We're always together. We're meant to be together. Forever. Why would you need space from me? Don't you love being with me?"

He flinched back a little, the word hitting him like a physical blow.

He could feel the crushing pressure.

He was a fool for falling for her in the first place.

"Rain, it's not" he started to explain, to placate, to backtrack, anything to defuse the escalating tension.

But she cut him off, her voice rising, becoming louder, more frantic, drawing the attention of a few nearby patrons who glanced their way, then quickly looked away, uncomfortable.

"Don't you love me, Y/N?" she demanded, her voice trembling, tears welling in her dark eyes. "Don't you want to be with me? Always? Don't you need me?"

Need.

That was it. That's what it all came down to. Not love, not partnership, not connection, not companionship. Need. She wanted him to need her.

To be dependent on her. To be hers.

"Rain, I do" he said, lying, pleading, desperate to make her stop, to make her smile sweet again, even though he knew now that smile was a lie, a weapon. "I do love being with you. But everyone needs a little time to themselves sometimes. It's just normal."

"Normal?" she scoffed. "Normal is boring, Y/N! We're not normal! We're special! We have something special! Something that other people don't understand! And you want to throw it away? For 'space'? For 'normal'?" She spat the words.

She leaned across the table, her face inches from his, her eyes burning into his soul, the red light intensifying. "Don't you see, Y/N?" she whispered, her voice low, intense, vibrating with a desperate energy that was bordering on madness. "We're meant to be together! We're soulmates! Destined! Don't you feel it? Don't you feel the connection? The the pull?"

He did feel it.

The pull.

A crimson thread, yes, of destiny.

A thread of obsession. A thread of control. A thread of entrapment. A thread that was, even now, constricting his heart, turning him into something he was not.

"Rain, please" he begged, his voice barely a whisper now. "Please, just calm down. Let's just talk about this. Later. When we're both calmer. I'm sure we can-"

He tried to reach for her hand, to offer a gesture of peace, of comfort, anything to de-escalate the situation, but she recoiled, pulling her hand away as if his touch burned her.

"No" she whispered. "No, we're talking about this now, Y/N! Right now! Tell me! Tell me you love me! Tell me you want to be with me! Forever! Tell me!" Her voice was cracking, breaking, tears streaming down her face now, a flood of raw, untamed emotion that terrified him.

He looked at her, at her distorted face, the raw pain and desperation twisting her features.

He knew what was coming. He had felt it building, this sense of impending doom, this feeling of being chased, of being trapped.

He was cornered. He knew, with a chilling certainty, that this was the end, the real end. Not just of this conversation, but of everything.

He stood up abruptly, pushing his chair back with a loud scrape that echoed in the sudden silence of the cafe. He wanted to get away.

"Rain" he said, his voice flat, toneless, devoid of emotion, the voice of someone who'd seen too much. "I can't do this. I can't do this anymore."

He turned to walk away, to escape, to run, to put as much distance between them as he could, but Rain was faster.

She lunged across the table, her hand reaching out, grabbing his arm, her nails digging into his skin. He could feel them tearing at his skin.

"No!" she shrieked, her voice raw with a pain and a fury that bordered on madness. "No, you're not leaving me, Y/N! You're mine! You belong to me! You promised! You promised forever!"

She pulled him back, hard, her grip tightening, digging into his arm.

He stumbled, before balancing himself again.

Then he ran he had to escape.

And as the door opened, into the street.

He saw it.

Headlights blindingly bright.

Rain's face, inches from his, contorted with a primal mix of emotions, rage, fear, despair.

He couldn't tell.

It was so fast.

Her nails dug into his arm, her face was almost touching his. She looked almost happy.

In the midst of this chaos, he heard his heartbeat. The sirens were closer. He wanted to run he wanted to get away.

"Y/N" Rain called out.

The deafening screech of tires, and that's when it happened.

The car, a black sedan, appeared from nowhere, skidding across the wet pavement. Rain didn't let go of his arm.

It all happened in an instant.

Rain's grip tightened, pulling him closer, closer, into the path of the oncoming car. He saw her face, her eyes locked on his, with love, with desire, with something broken.

He was never meant to escape.

The moment before the impact felt stretched. Slowed down. He saw her eyes, her eyes were empty.

He tried to push her, he struggled to escape, his arm, caught between them.

She looked at him.

She was the last thing he saw.

He was never meant to have a happy ending.

And then, the screech of tires, the blinding flash of hot pain, a wave of pure, unadulterated, horrific, inescapable pain exploding through his body, shattering bone, tearing muscle, ripping flesh.

The world tilted, spun, blurring into colors he couldn't name, a chaotic mix of red and black and blinding white.

The sound of glass breaking.

The taste of blood on his tongue.

His last moments were a horrifying collage of sensation.

He felt himself being lifted, thrown, weightless for a split second before crashing down, hard, onto something cold and unforgiving. Concrete.

Pain.

Agony.

Then, a searing heat.

A burning sensation in his chest.

He looked up, his vision swimming, his senses overloaded.

He saw the car.

The front of the car was smashed.

The rain was falling, soaking his clothes.

It seemed as if Rain had never let go.

He was still tangled with her.

She had gone through the windshield, the glass shattering into a million pieces.

And then, a searing heat.

A burning sensation in his chest.

The air filled with the stench of gasoline and blood.

He looked at her face.

Her eyes were open, but they didn't see anything.

They didn't see him.

They didn't see anything at all.

He watched the blood.

He was covered with her blood, he wanted to escape.

His face, against the cold, wet pavement, his vision blurring, fading.

And then, a scream.

Not his scream. But his mom's, a sound so raw, so primal, so filled with agony, that it ripped through the chaos, cutting him to the core.

Right, she was supposed to pick him up by this time.

He saw her then, his mom, her face white with terror, her eyes wide with unspeakable grief, tears streaming down her cheeks, blurring her features, making her look broken and beyond recognition.

His mom was screaming.

He tried to reach his mom, to tell her he was there, to tell her he was sorry, to tell her he loved her.

"Y/N!" she screamed, her voice raw with agony, a sound that tore through him, worse than the pain, worse than the blood, worse than the darkness closing in. "Y/N! No! No, no, no!"

He had failed, he had hurt them all.

He had failed.

He knew.

His blood was everywhere.

He wanted to scream, but no sound would come. His body wouldn't obey.

He closed his eyes.

All he can see was Rain.

He was covered in blood.

He was slipping.

He closed his eyes.

Darkness.

Darkness.

"I love you."

It wasn't Rain.

It was him saying it to Rain.

Or someone that sounded similar.

His mind.

She was smiling

He felt the crimson thread shining.

The End.