Yanderes in Cottage Country

Days passed with Cody making sure Morgan felt safe and comfy and had everything she needed. At least, she thought it was a few days. Three…four…she wasn’t entirely sure. She mostly stayed in his room, requesting lots and lots of cuddles. He even brought their meals into the room to eat in bed together. Right now, Cody was out in the kitchen, making their lunch in what he explained was a magical gamified oven, which helped explain why he was an excellent cook all of a sudden. The past few days kind of felt like a never-ending cozy sleepover, but she knew it had to end eventually. She couldn’t spend the rest of her life hiding in Cody’s room because she…because she…

Nyrah did not die, she reminded herself for the one millionth time. And Cody had filled her in about Nyrah, how she was being manipulated by Temica, the gift shop lady. Morgan was still wrapping her brain around that info. Cody also mentioned some weird stuff to do with Golden Hearts. She had one. Cody had one. Nyrah did not, but was something called a Heartseer, and somehow that made her destined to only find love with someone who had a Golden Heart. The whole thing sounded like an insane fairy tale. It was bad enough Morgan was dealing with the immense guilt of stabbing a person, but now she learned Cody had been in another world and had come back for her…Her stomach fluttered. She actually liked that part of the fairy tale; thinking about him being heroic in a magical world, fighting his way back to her.

She couldn’t help but believe it. All of it. It was Cody telling her everything, and she trusted him. She saw what Nyrah was, wings and all. She had yet to see Yana in her true form, but was very curious about it. She was having a hard time picturing Yana with green skin and pointy elf ears. One day, when Morgan finally left this room, she would fill in the blanks that her imagination was having trouble piecing together.

Cody returned with grilled cheese sandwiches and crispy fries. Comfort food. It smelled delicious, and she had regained her appetite. She thanked him for the meal and dug in. Everything that magical oven made tasted heavenly.

“You plan on beating the game,” she said, covering her mouth as she chewed. “Does that mean you lose all the game stuff, like this oven?”

“Probably.” Cody bit into a fry, but then paused. “Yeah, and there’s uh…one other thing that’s going to go back to normal once we get rid of this game stuff.”

“What?”

Cody set his plate down and rubbed the back of his neck, looking mildly uncomfortable.

Morgan threw a fry at him. “What is it? Tell me. After everything you’ve told me so far, how could there be anything else you can’t tell me?”

“Yeah, so…another thing that will go back to normal is my uh…refractory period? Pretty sure I need a bit more than two seconds between rounds, and I don’t know if I can do it five times in a row in one night. Didn’t exactly have that super power beforehand.”

Morgan laughed. “That night was pretty insane. But I wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth...or whatever that weird ass saying is.”

Cody laughed, leaning in for a kiss. “It’s not like I’ll need a lot of time, just…a bit more than two seconds.”

“So, that’s a game thing? Weird.”

“Pussy petting,” Cody said, as if that explained everything. He clearly noticed her confused look, so continued: “Every time I pet a pussy it boosts my Stamina back to one hundred percent. Doesn’t matter if it’s an actual cat or your pussy.”

Morgan was about to eat another fry but stopped, staring at him. “Seriously, out of all the weird shit you’ve told me over the past couple days, this one is the weirdest.”

“So, I guess that means you don’t remember the fishing montage date?” Cody asked.

“The song? And how the date went by super fast? Like a montage.”

“Fishing…montage date?” She certainly remembered their fishing date, and that the day seemed to fly by, but she didn’t remember any music.

“Yeah, there’s music and shit in this game, but I think I’m the only one who notices it. And Knife, when he was still attached to me. Apparently, Henry the parrot is into songwriting.”

“Henry…the parrot,” Morgan repeated. “Wait, the white bird that sits on the gift shop lady’s shoulder?

“Yeah, that creepy motherfucker.” Cody visibly shivered. “Apparently, that parrot helps take care of a lot of the game stuff and likes writing songs.”

Morgan shook her head. “This is some mega weird shit, Cody.”

“No kidding.” He polished off his sandwich and watched as she finished up her own lunch. “You seem to be acting more like yourself, by the way.”

She gave him a smile. “I’m starting to feel better. I think I’ll be ready to go out by the time Saturday rolls around. It’s Gracie’s birthday party.”

Cody’s face fell. “Babe, today is Saturday.”

“No.” Morgan shook her head, convinced that he was messing with her. Even though he had absolutely no reason to mess with her, and she knew he wouldn’t, not when she was still in her fragile state. “It…it can’t be Saturday.”

Cody grabbed his phone and turned it on, displaying the date and time. As she read the word ‘Saturday’ on his screen, she felt like she was going to throw up her entire grilled cheese sandwich. Her heart started to race, and she jumped out of bed. She needed to shower. Wash her hair. When was the last time she showered? She needed her outfit, the green dress she picked out weeks ago. And Gracie’s present, which she also purchased weeks ago, thank goodness. But both of those were at her apartment. And she was here. And she needed to brush her hair. And do her makeup. But she didn’t have any makeup here, either. And where were her glasses? She swore she left them on Cody’s dresser, but now she couldn’t find them.

Cody rushed over, grabbing her shoulders lightly. “Calm down. We got this. You’re sure the party is today?”

“Yes! I know when my niece’s birthday is!” Morgan grabbed her phone from the dresser, where she had discarded it after calling Doug that first morning. It was dead. “Fuck. Fuck. Fuck! My phone is dead. What if Doug needed me for something? What if Gracie needed me?”

“They’re fine,” Cody assured her. “They know you’re here. If Doug actually needed you for something he would have stopped by.”

“Right. Right. I need…I need…”

“I think you need to take a few deep breaths.” Cody gave her arms a reassuring squeeze. “And then explain to me exactly what you need to do to get ready. That is, if you want to go.”

“I want to go. I definitely want to go.”

She took in a deep breath and let it out, then repeated it four more times. She was beginning to feel more grounded. “I need to take the fastest shower ever. Then we need to go to my apartment so I can get my party dress and Gracie’s gift and maybe throw on some makeup and do my hair, if I have time.”

“What time is the party?” Cody asked.

“It starts at two o’clock. So, we have like, an hour?”

“Just over an hour. We can do this. Go shower!”

She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and ran out to the bathroom.

* * *

Morgan reached for Cody’s hand as they walked down the dirt road to Doug’s cottage.

“You sure?” he asked, even as he threaded his fingers into hers.

“I just spent like, four days at your house and we’re showing up together,” Morgan said. “I’m pretty sure Doug has figured it out by now. Besides, I suddenly have this overwhelming feeling that life is too short to hide the person I love from my own family.”

Cody stopped walking so he could cup her face with his hand and guided her in for a kiss, slow and soft. She loved when he did stuff like that. It made her all swoony.

“I love you, too,” Cody said. “And I agree. Life is too short to not let the entire world know who I love.”

Morgan slapped him playfully on the chest, and they started walking again. “Jesus. You don’t need to be that mushy.”

“You love it,” Cody teased.

He’s not wrong, Morgan thought, smiling to herself. But it didn’t make it any less cheesy.

“Am I even invited to Gracie’s party?” Cody asked.

“Pretty sure she’s fine with ‘Mr. Pinecone Man’ coming to her birthday party. She talks about you quite a bit.”

“She does?”

“Yeah…” Morgan slowed her steps and turned to look at Cody. “Did you say Gracie is one of the people you need to gain Friendship Levels with?”

“Yeah, she’s one of them. She’s at…” Cody squinted and then got a far off look in his eyes before refocusing on Morgan. It sent a shiver down her spine. Gracie got that exact same look in her eyes all the time, but she always brushed it off whenever Morgan asked her about it. “I’m at Level Two out of Five for Gracie.”

“What did you just do?” Morgan asked.

“What?”

“When your eyes kind of…looked away?”

“Oh, I was checking my game screen. I just kind of…bring it up. It’s like a big pink screen that only I can see.”

“Hmmmm.”

“What is it?” Cody asked.

“Nothing,” Morgan said, because it had to be a coincidence. Maybe Gracie just…looked like that sometimes. It didn’t necessarily mean anything. “Let’s keep going. We’re already a couple minutes late.”

When they arrived at Doug’s cottage it looked like the birthday party was in full swing. It also looked like nearly the entire town was there. A picnic table was loaded with pink-wrapped gifts and there were an abundance of extra lawn chairs and tables set up, all filled with platters of finger foods and a bowl of punch surrounded by paper cups. Morgan spotted Gracie playing jump rope with a couple of town kids. She was wearing a cute pink party dress and had her black hair in her usual pigtails with pink ribbons trailing from them. Doug had really upped his game being a single-girl-dad and mastering pigtails and hair accessories in the past six months. Morgan was impressed. It also served as a reminder that maybe Doug and Gracie didn’t need her as much as she thought they did. There was both a feeling of sadness and relief as she realized that. She loved helping them, but she also wanted her own life.

Gracie must have felt eyes on her, because she looked over at them. She grinned when she saw her aunt and Morgan couldn’t help but smile back.

“Aunty Morgan! Mr. Pinecone Man!” Gracie called as she skipped over.

That definitely caught Doug’s attention. He had his back to them, and he’d been chatting with William from Corner Pieces Bakery. He turned to face her after Gracie called her name. His eyes travelled to Cody, and the hand holding, but he stayed where he was and started talking to William again.

Morgan shook it off and focused on Gracie. “Happy birthday, Gracie!” She handed over the gift bag and Gracie thanked her before giving her a big hug.

“Daddy says you’ve been sick,” Gracie said. “Are you okay now?”

“I’m starting to feel better, yes.” She gave Gracie a reassuring smile. The little girl took the gift bag and skipped away. She deposited it on the picnic table where all the other gifts were before heading back to play with the other kids.

Despite the uneasy feeling that Doug’s look had given her, Morgan felt surprisingly okay. She probably needed this, a reason to leave the cottage, or else she never would have left Cody’s bedroom. She was worried she was going to feel like an outsider for the rest of her life, because none of these people knew what she’d done. There was the Morgan before she stabbed a girl, and the ‘Morgan After’, and she was still figuring out who the Morgan After was.

Cody squeezed her hand. “You good?”

She looked up at him, her rock, and her heart swelled with just how much she loved him. She had absolutely no clue how she would be fairing if he hadn’t taken care of her the past few days. Well, not good, probably. But with him, she felt she could do this. Face the day. Go to the birthday party. Get back to her everyday life. “I’m feeling better than expected.”

It wasn’t long before Doug sauntered over. He wasn’t glowering, but he didn’t look pleased, either. “Morgan? A word. Alone.”

She sighed, but Cody let her hand slip free. She followed Doug into his cottage, where they could have some privacy in the kitchen. Doug leaned up against the counter, so she stayed standing, crossing her arms over her chest. From her vantage point, she could see out the kitchen window, where Cody was now chatting with Lexi, who was looking really cute in a strappy black sundress. Morgan felt a tiny flare of jealousy, but tried to push it away and turned her focus to Doug: “Yes?”

“So, you and Cody.”

“Yes. I love him and he loves me. So, whatever you were prepared to say, just…save it. We’re together and you’re just going to have to be an adult and deal with it.”

Doug nodded, showing no emotion on his face. “And you were sick for a few days? What was that about? You okay?”

“Yeah…just, some crazy stuff happened and I needed some time on my own. I don’t feel like talking about it right now.” She was pretty sure she’d never feel comfortable talking about it with anyone but Cody.

“So, you’re pregnant already?” Doug asked matter-of-factly.

“What? No!” Morgan said, although she did feel some excitement at the thought of having babies with Cody one day. But that was one day, and not today.

Doug nodded slowly. “He’s good to you?”

“The best.”

“And he’s not going to ghost you again and break your heart?”

“No,” Morgan said forcefully. “He’s not.”

“But if he does, you realize I will hunt him down this time and kick his ass.”

Morgan shook her head. “That’s not happening.”

And then something pink caught her eye, and it wasn’t Gracie or any of the little girls in their party clothes. It was her. She was tall, elegant, and wearing a full-length pink dress. Her long pink hair was flowing down her back in gentle waves. That weird white parrot was sitting on her shoulder, as usual. She wasn’t talking to anyone, just holding a paper cup with punch in it, waltzing around the cottage’s yard as if she was definitely welcome there.

“Why the fuck is the gift shop lady here?” Morgan asked, pointing out the window.

Doug turned to take a look. “Oh, Temica? I invited her.”

“You invited her? Why?”

“She’s part of the town and her shop is right across the street from the Food Mart.” Doug shrugged. “Why wouldn’t I invite her? Nearly everyone else is here.”

Morgan looked back at Temica, who just waved at Bob, and then Morgan looked back to her brother, eyes narrowed. “Are you into her?”

Doug laughed and shook his head. “Of course not. I am not remotely ready to jump back into the dating scene. Not sure if I ever will be. I just thought it’d be a nice, neighborly thing to do. I thought you liked her. You've bought clothes from her shop, haven’t you?”

“No, I do not like her, I fucking hate her,” Morgan said. “And you need to ask her to leave. Now.”

“What? Did she hit on Cody or something? Are you jealous?”

“No, but she’s a bitch.” Morgan stormed out of the cottage, her brother close behind.

Cody must have noticed Temica just as Morgan was exiting the cottage, because he was already making a beeline for the goddess bitch. He reached her first.

“You!” Cody said, pointing at Temica. “What the hell do you think you’re doing here?”

Temica looked past Cody to where Doug and Morgan were approaching. “The birthday girl’s father invited me.”

Morgan made it to Cody and quickly clasped his hand in hers. “You’re uninvited,” she told Temica.

Temica’s eyes looked down to where Morgan was holding Cody’s hand, and then flicked back to her face. “You’ve been putting up an admirable fight for your man. The meal I had the other day: scrumptious. In fact, I’m still licking up plenty of crumbs, waiting for my next big meal.”

“The buffet is over,” Cody said. “And I’m pretty sure I’ve said this before, but just get the fuck out of here.”

“Language,” Doug scolded and Morgan squeezed Cody’s hand again, silently reprimanding him.

“Oh, I’m sticking around at least until you finish our little game, maybe longer,” Temica said. “We’ll see.”

“This is my party!” Gracie shouted, startling Morgan. She hadn’t even noticed the little girl joining them. “And you’re weird. And I don’t even know you. And my Aunty Morgan and Mr. Pinecone Man don’t like you. I want you to leave.”

“Gracie,” Doug said. “That’s not very nice. I invited Miss Temica.”

Gracie looked up at her dad, a stubborn scowl on her cute face. “Please ask her to leave, Daddy.”

“It’s fine,” Temica said sweetly. “I’ll do as the birthday girl requests.”

The goddess bitch swept up her gown dramatically and gracefully walked away.