Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 6

Context: It was your first day at a new school, and the first words you heard after 'Welcome' were 'Don't talk to the boy with the scars!'. It was repeated by everyone, but no one would explain why. You decided to learn for yourself by bringing him his lunch, and... you made a friend! His name is Eli, and he's apparently the Devil himself. You... aren't so sure about that, though.

Setting: Home

Tags:[M4A][Friends to Lovers][Mysterious Masked Boy Speaker][Friendly New Kid Listener][Hard Angst][Confession][Breakdown/Crying][The Mask Slips][Wholesome AF][Reverse Comfort][Super Cute][I Will Marry You[[CW: Mentions of Death/Familicide/Trauma]

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[Scene opens in Eli’s home]

[SFX: Late nighttime ambiance]

[You’re woken later into the night by some shuffling out in the living room. You can hear Eli moving about, muttering something under his breath]

[Pause?]

[You call for him but he doesn’t answer, continuing to mutter indistinctly]

[SFX: The Listener crawling out of bed and heading into the living room/the door swinging open]

[Pause???]

“...Tabby?! Tabby, go back in the room!”

[Pause???]

[You see him dart around the corner and realize he’s forgotten his mask. You quickly hide your eyes but yelp out as he grasps your shoulders]

“HEY! Come here! Didn’t you fucking hear me?!”

[He grasps you desperately, sobbing in a panic]

“Don’t let them in! Please!”

[Pause???]

“The monsters!! They aren’t meant to be here, they know they aren’t!”

[...]

“Yes, I have my rifle! I need it!!”

[P-Pause…]

“...I can’t give you the rifle… I need it to protect us…! What if they hurt you?! I’ll kill ‘em… I’ll kill ‘em all over again, I swear it!!!”

[Pause!]

[At your yelp of fear, he seems to snap out of it]

“O-Oh… Oh god…”

[...]

[SFX: The rifle getting set down gently]

“...Tabby… T-Tabby, I’m so sorry… I didn’t mean to scare you…”

[...]

[His voice grows more distressed. Anguished]

“Why won’t you look at me?!”

[P…Pause]

“...My mask…”

[He falls silent and you hear him quietly shuffle about for it and put it on]

[SFX: Eli quietly retrieving his mask]

“...I’m so sorry… I didn’t even realize I-I… wasn’t wearing it…”

[...]

“...How much did you see?”

[...]

[He inhales… holds it… exhales as silent sobs rack his body]

“...Nothing but a quick glimpse at my eyes… Then you shut yours… OK… O-OK…”

[...?]

[He stands still in the moonlight, shoulders hunched. Tears stream from under his mask]

“...A-Are you… scared of me…?”

[Pause]

[He sucks in a breath, voice soft and so remorseful it makes your chest hurt]

“...I know… I know you don’t like yelling. I’m sorry… I forgot tonight was the anniversary and by the time it hit midnight, I thought… I could stay calm enough around you to not have an episode… So stupid of me. So FUCKING stupid!”

[Pause…?]

[He’s quiet for a long moment before he admits:]

“...I killed them on this night, many years ago…”

[...?]

“...If you really want to know… I’ll tell you the truth. But I need you in my arms, Tabby… I need to hold you so I don’t come apart all over again. Could I ask that of you?”

[Pause]

[SFX: Them cuddling up]

[Eli settles on the couch again and you crawl into his arms, wrapping up in the warmth of the comforter]

“...Comfy?”

[Pause <3]

“...I promise I won’t hurt you… I swear it…”

[He holds you and you hear his heart pound beneath your ear]

“...It’s not a lie, Tabby…”

[...Pause?]

[His voice catches, weak and heartbroken, but he clings on to you as best he can]

“...I did it. I killed people… I wasn’t lying about that part.”

[...Pause?]

[His voice cracks]

“How can you ask me that so calmly?! How will my explanation make it any less awful?!”

[Pause…]

“...You want the story? Fine. Better you leave me now than later, right?! Fine!”

[You stay resting against him, calm, despite his shaking]

[...]

“...After my accident, there was a period of time when I was totally blind. The doctors didn’t think I’d regain my sight, but… I did. After it was too late…”

[Pause?]

“...My grandma was really sick when we had our accident. The stress didn’t exactly make it any better… What was worse was that the rest of the family wasn’t exactly great about being decent human beings. Some of them came over to demand she change the will while I was still blind, she was still sick, and my brother had been taken into a care home…”

[The sorrow of realization falls over you. Eli sobs silently against you]

[...]

“...I-I didn’t know it was my cousins… I just woke up and she was yelling for help… I promised Grandpa I’d protect Grandma before he passed. He left me his gun… taught me how to shoot pretty well… Maybe a little too well…”

[Pause…?]

[The words are so casual but it’s clear they haunt him]

“They broke in and ...I hit them all. Every single one… I remember it so vividly. I was so… calm. I remember wondering why I wasn’t panicking, but I didn’t wonder if I’d killed any of them. I just knew I had to protect her… I-It was only five minutes…”

[...]

[You wrap your arms around him more tightly and he cries against you, so dejected]

“...I remember my Grandma almost chanting, ‘It’s OK, honey, you didn’t know’ and not registering what she meant until the cops were talking to me hours later, asking me, ‘Why’d you kill your family, son?’. The second they asked, I remember bursting into tears because I had thought, during the whole thing, ‘Wow, that guy sounds like Cousin Ricky’. Because it was Ricky… Was… The dumbass broke in to try and get money, and lost his life… thanks to me.”

[...Pause]

“...I-I just… I heard Grandma scream for help… and I reacted. She tried to soothe me til the day she passed. ‘You did good, Eli. You saved my life’. I don’t regret that part… I just… There had to have been a way that wouldn’t have ended up with five people dying that night.”

[...]

“...You’re still holding me…”

[Pause <3]

“...You really don’t think I’m a monster…? Then… What am I, to you?”

[Pause]

[SFX: Fill in with droning, grunge music, if desired]

“...To you, I’m a smart, sweet person who has suffered a lot. But, despite that, I still treat people well. You… don’t see me as a murderer…?”

[Pause…]

“...It’s something that happened, but it doesn’t define me, just like my mask doesn’t define me… That’s how you see me?”

[Pause <3]

[He’s quiet for a long moment before he murmurs a soft, earnest:]

“...I think I love you.”

[Pause <3]

[His voice smiles, even though tears are still pouring]

“...Hmph. You make things so simple, you know that? My life has gotten so much better since I met you… I don’t want that to change. I want to be the man whose name you call with love on your tongue. I know high school sweethearts don’t usually work out, but…”

[Pause <3]

[The smile in his voice widens]

“...Yeah. We can date at our own pace in our own way. I like that.”

[Pause?]

“...I do feel a little better now that you know, yeah. But you’re hesitating… What’s on your mind?”

[Pause…]

[He sighs]

“Oy, with the therapy… Fine. I’ll see what insurance I’m on and if it covers a therapist. Happy?”

[Pause <3]

“You’re welcome. You owe me fifteen kisses for not arguing over therapy. And… you promise me that… we’re OK? That you don’t… think I’m disgusting, now?”

[Pause <3]

“...Thank you, Tabby… For… For everything you do and stand for…”

[Pause <3]

[You stay cuddled with him, glad that the truth is out]

“...Did you like my eyes…? Even though one is messed up…?”

[Pause <3]

“...Well… How about now?”

[SFX: Eli removing his mask]

[You look as he shifts as he pulls his mask off, looking at you wholly as himself, nothing more or less]

[Note: Eli is missing skin from the right corner of his mouth, has severe burns on that side of his face, and is still mostly blind in that eye, but you can leave him open to interpretation. I think he’s a good bean either way <3]

[Pause…]

“...I did take the mask off, yeah… For you. If you’re going to love me like you do, then you may as well see the face of your ‘Devil’, right?”

[...Pause <3]

[He smiles. Now that you can actually see it, it’s a very cute smile]

“...You really think I’m handsome…? Even though my face is fucked up?”

[Pause <3]

[He holds you tight with a noise of immense relief and gratitude]

“...Do you know what the first words my grandpa uttered to my grandmother?”

[Pause?]

“He walked right up to her and said, ‘I’m gonna marry you one day’. She laughed it off, all the way up to the day she married him.”

[Pause <3]

“It is a sweet story…”

[SFX: Them settling in for the good cuddles]

[After a moment, he whispers to you:]

“Hey, Tabby…?”

[Pause?]

“...I’m gonna marry you one day.”

[... <3]

[He smiles but says nothing else as the two of you settle in. Prom is soon. Graduation is soon. Your whole life is ahead of you… At least, you think it is]

[To be continued]

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Note: Next chapter will see the Prom, graduation, and a time skip for this young couple. Let us hope they survive the high school sweetheart curse ;3