"Y/N, you're nothing without me." The darkness says to me.

Stop. It's been 7 years.

"I still want you. I need you with me."

No, you don't. Leave me alone!

"Why so mad, Y/N? I've done so much for you. You wouldn't be who you are without me."

You... You almost killed me! I'll never forgive you, you sick fuck!

It reaches for me. The hand that's covered in my blood. I turn the other way and sprint, except the distant light isn't getting any closer.

"Are you leaving me again? Be a good girl and stay."

I shake my head and stay focused on the light.

"Stay."

"Don't leave me again. You owe me that much."

I'm still sprinting. I look behind me and see 5 hands on my tail. Please, I need to get out of this nightmare.

"Come here, Y/N!"

My ankle is caught and I'm dragged as I hit the void's dark floor.

"GET AWAY FROM ME!!" I scream and jolt upright. I process the environment around me while panting heavily. White, warm duvets and family pictures along the wall. I'm in Jojo's guest room. I'm safe.

I hear the door being unlocked, which induces fear in me because of my recent nightmare. I back up against the bed's headboard as I see black curls poke through the bright light of the hallway, which looked a lot like the light I was trying to run to. I sigh in relief.

Jotaro walks in through the door with a worried expression. "Are you okay?"

"Not really." I confess. "Just another nightmare."

He runs his hand through his hair and sits down beside me. Slowly, he puts a hand on my shoulder. I used to flinch at his touch, but these few weeks have really proved to me that he won't hurt me. He's been gentle and very patient with me, which I'm grateful for.

"You're shaking. Tell me what happened." He demands.

I shake my head. "I'm fine. It's just all in my head.... but there were hands, and a lot of darkness."

"What were they doing?" He asks.

"They were reaching out to me. To keep me from being free. And his voice..."

I break down in tears as his hands remain on both of my shoulders. "Why *hic*, why did he have to show up again?"

He gently pulls me into a hug as I sob into his shoulder. I feel his cool, gentle breaths on my shoulder and his bare arms around me. I attempt to calm down.

"Why are you doing this? You're taking your role too seriously." I tell him.

He squeezes me a little tighter. "Is that such a bad thing? You're hurting and you need comfort. I care about you, Y/N."

He sets me free from his warm embrace and I feel the chilling air on my arms. Why do I wish that he didn't let go?

He lays down on the bed and gets under the covers, extending his arm out. "Come here, use my arm as a pillow."

I hesitate. Is it wrong to do this when he's not my real husband?

Slowly, I lay down on his arm and face him. He also faces me. The moonlight that seeps through my window reflects off of his chiseled face... and his abs. He could at least have put on a shirt before getting in my bed.

Without thinking, I put my hand on his cheek. He gives me a warm expression, as if he really liked it.

"You really don't have to do this." I say. "I feel better now."

"Yare yare, woman. I'm already doing it, so sleep." he huffs tiredly.

He gives me a soft smile as I shut my eyes, my hand still on his face. "Thank you... for everything." I whisper.

As I doze off, I feel him shifting closer to me. I feel a sudden damp warmth on my forehead. He kissed me. I have the urge to bury my face in his chest, but he thinks I'm asleep. Hopefully he can't see how flustered I am.

I think it's safe to say that I really do have feelings for my fake fiancé. He's gone extreme lengths to make sure I'm safe and comfortable. He treats me as if I was his real wife, and I'm not complaining.

~~~

A nightmare didn't reoccur.

I wake up to a radiant warmth. My eyes flutter open, and all I see is bare skin. I look up to see Jotaro still in blissful slumber. I'm not sure if I should get up or not. His relaxed face puts a smile on my face, so I stare at him a little longer. Maybe he felt my movement because his eyes started to flutter open. Our eyes met before I quickly shut them and pretended to sleep once more.

"I already saw you." He says with a tired voice.

I sigh and open my eyes. Now that there's light in the room, I can see every detail about him.

"You okay? Your face is red." He asks.

I quickly cover my face. "I'm okay."

"You know, I get nightmares sometimes too."

I peek out of my fingers to see his sea green eyes focused on brushing hair out of my face.

"Really? What happened?" I ask him. What could give him such bad memories?

"I was the same age as you when your incident happened. I can't really tell you much, but three of my friends... died for me. I wish they were here with me now." He explains with watery eyes. A tear falls down from his eye.

My hand reaches for his face to wipe it away. I caress his cheek to comfort him. "It seems like you've been through a lot, Jojo. I'm proud of you for being so strong all the time despite your tragedy. I'm sorry for your loss."

He looks at me, weak at the thought of his late friends. "Y/N..."

"Yes?" I reply.

"Sometimes, I'm scared that my nightmares will turn into losing you, too."

He's scared that he'll lose me in a dream. He cares about me that much? I give him a reassuring smile. "I'm not going anywhere."

He gives me a soft smile and my heart flutters. The warmth of the sunlight and his touch make me sleepier, so I shut my eyes.

"Y/N." He calls again.

"Hm?" I hum with my eyes still shut.

Silence follows. I speak up again. "What is it-"

I'm silenced by his soft lips on mine. I don't know why he's doing this, but I don't want to pull away. He deepens our passionate kiss before pulling away to lean his forehead on mine. We look at eachother, dazed and flustered.

"Wasn't it obvious that I liked you from the start?" He asks me.

I think back. He's always been sweet to me compared to other women, especially when I visited his workplace.

I remain speechless as I stare at his lips once more.

He smirks to himself and breaks the silence by getting up. "Don't give me an answer yet, let's just get ready for work. I have a company dinner tonight and everyone's annoying me saying that you should come. You don't have to-"

"I'll come, but just promise me you'll keep an eye on me, especially after what happened last night." I reply. If I don't go, who knows what his co-worker will do tonight. He nods in response and heads to the washroom to shower.

Lately, this intern at his workplace has been flirting with him— a lot. This isn't new to me, but she thinks she still has a shot at Jotaro even though he told her he's engaged. She flirts with him in front of me, too! Yet, I can't bring myself to do anything about it.

I remember when it didn't affect me. Our marriage was just fake, nothing more. She'd giggle at literally anything he said, and he always rolled his eyes at her. I didn't do anything. It seemed like he could handle it on his own, but if I see her tonight pulling that again, I don't know what I'll do.

~~~

I head to the restaurant straight from work. I had to take a cab because Jotaro dropped me off in the morning. I arrive at the restaurant and find him waiting outside.

"Did you wait long? It's cold, you should've gone inside." I tell him.

"I'm fine, come on." He offers his hand and I take it. We must show his co-workers that we're a good couple.

We walk in the restaurant and he gives my hand a small squeeze of reassurance. Everybody greets us and pours us shots of soju.

"Jojo~ you came!" a voice nears us.

The sickeningly sweet sound of her voice angers me. I look up to see her long, light brown hair styled and her face bright at the sight of him. Why am I getting angry? God, Y/N. Just calm down already.

"Oh. You brought your fiancée..." her voice drops.

I fake a wide smile, "Hi, Akari. How have you been?"

She gives me a dirty look and says "Fine." She then sits in front of Jotaro, only giving him attention. "How are you, Jojo?~"

I clench the end of my blazer hard as my smile stays plastered on my face. Jotaro notices me doing that and replies to Akari. "Fine."

His petty response makes me laugh a little, and she notices. She glares at me and pouts, "Anyways, thank you for taking me out for lunch today and paying for my food! We should do it again on Mon-"

"I only paid for it because three of your cards declined." Jotaro says bluntly. "I went back to the building right after."

I almost burst out into laughter and say something to her. "Please, what are you trying to get at? You're making a fool of yourself. Just enjoy the food."

She opens her mouth to say something but shuts up at the sight of me putting my hand on Jotaro's. He raises his eyebrows at my sudden gesture, but accepts it.

"Y/N, I hope we didn't trouble you by asking you to come. We just wanted to see Jotaro smile for once." His co-worker, Riku, says.

"Is that so? Smile?" I raise my eyebrow at Jojo for an answer, but he clears his throat and looks away.

As the entire group barbecues meat on the grills in the middle of the table, that bitch shoots her shot again. She picks up a thin slice of beef from the grill, blows on it, and holds it in front of Jotaro's mouth.

"Jojo~ have some of your favourite!" She smiles.

I shake my head. From my month of knowing Jojo, I know that he prefers pork over beef. As if it was a competition, I pick him a pork slice from the grill and hold it in front of him. "You haven't had this yet. Try some." I insist.

Why am I even doing this? Why am I so threatened?

He gives Akari an unconvinced look and turns to me. "Thank you... honey."

I blush as he eats the pork slice from my chopsticks. Honey?!

I excuse myself to the washroom to wash my red face. Why did he have to use honey to address me?

I finish washing my face. I hang over the sink for a second, then look into the mirror. I spot light brown hair behind me.

"Just what do you think you're doing to my Jojo?" She asks me.

I turn around. "Are you delusional? Your Jojo? Why don't you take a look at the ring on my finger? You've been acting like this forever. Give up."

"I've known him for a year! You only started showing up to see him a month ago. Something's really fishy about your marriage." She replies.

Whenever someone suspected us of faking our love, my breath hitched. But right now, as I'm being threatened by some random intern, I'm confident in my next words. "A year? And he still doesn't want you? Why are you so invested in our love life? I love him. Take his hints and stop harassing him everywhere you go."

I turn around to walk out of the washroom with long strides as her glare burns into my back. I see what Jojo told me a while ago. Whether girls like him for him... or just the thought of him.

I plop down beside Jotaro with a heavy sigh, "Your intern is too much."

"Hm? What she did do?" He asks me.

"She told me that you're her Jojo and implied that I should stay away from you, you know, the usual." I shrug.

"That bitch," he mutters under his breath. "She doesn't know how to leave me alone."

I see her walk out of the washroom and sit back down. Jotaro glares at her.

"Aww, did I upset you, Jojo?" she says innocently. "Was I a naughty gi-"

"Shut the hell up." he says lowly, making sure his boss at the other end of the table doesn't hear.

"W-What?" she laughs in embarrassment. "What do you mean-"

"I'm going to talk to your supervisor on Monday. You've bothered my wife enough." He says coldly.

"You know, I'm only doing this because I think your marriage is fake. It took Y/N so long to act jealous." She tells us.

Her words don't phase Jotaro. He furrows his eyebrows. "I wouldn't ask her to marry me if I didn't love her, and believe me, I do. Tell your supervisor that I'll talk to her on Monday. Come on, Y/N, let's go."

Her face drops as I give her a petty smile. We wave goodbye to the rest of his co-workers and leave the restaurant.

"Hey, can we go on a walk for a little? I feel like my head is emitting steam." I ask.

He nods and we walk away from his car. "Jealous, aren't you?" He teases.

I look away. "N-No. She just had no right to act like that!" I stammer.

"It didn't phase you before, though." He points out.

"You're right, it didn't. But as a good fiancée I should react, right?" I smile.

He smiles back. "You're pretty, you know that?"

I stare into his turquoise irises, dazed. "Thanks..." I respond. I don't really know what I should say next.

He turns and walks the other way. "Let's go home now." He says as he holds his hand out. I lift my left hand and the moonlight reflects off of my ring. I take his hand, and he entwines our fingers.

"Your hands are cold." He says and puts both of our hands in his jacket pocket. I haven't said anything because he keeps making me flustered! There's so much I want to say to him, but I can't find the words to. I'm just... so grateful. I don't know what to do with my feelings for him. I'm aware that he feels the same, but I'm still scared of love.

We go to his home, and I sit at the desk in the guest room to add stuff to the sequel of my novel.

'Life can really take you by surprise,' I write. 'But you just have to embrace it. Something good will come out of it.'

I hear my door click open and a cup of tea is set on my desk as I'm typing away.

"What are you doing?" Jotaro asks.

"Writing a novel." I reply. "Thank you for the tea."

"A novel? What's it about?" He replies as he sits on the bed.

"It's about this girl who was abused by her rich adoptive family. Her adoptive mother hit her in front of her company's CEO, and he asks her to marry him for the sake of saving her from abuse, but she doesn't know that. They actually fall in love, and so on." I say enthusiastically. "It's definitely a frustrating read at first, but it gets easier."

"Sounds like a modern Cinderella." He replies. "It's late, come to bed."

"Come to bed...?" I turn around and see him under my sheets, shirtless once more.

I turn back around and bury my face in my hands, "Why? I'm fine to sleep on my own."

"Your nightmares, my nightmares. It'll be easier if we're with eachother." He explains.

I think about it. He's right, my nightmare didn't come back last night. I get up to turn the lights off, then lift the blanket to get in. "Okay, fine. But put a shirt on."

"Why? Does seeing me like this make you blush or something? Just come." He rolls his eyes.

"Gosh, you're so pushy. I'm coming." I groan as I scoot closer to him. His warmth radiates under the sheets, and I let out a satisfied hum.

"Thank you." I say softly, brushing his curl out of his face. "For inviting me into your life."

"If you're thankful, you should stay in it." He suggests.

"Stay in it...?" I wonder.

"Our contract says we can divorce after 2 years. So just don't divorce me." He says nonchalantly.

"You don't want a divorce?" I ask him, "I'm sure you didn't want this in the first place."

"I didn't at first, but I do now. I really like you, Y/N." He says and he grasps my cheek. "I won't hurt you like he did, I promise."

I believe him.

I nod and say, "Okay. I trust you."

He smiles wide and pulls me in for a kiss. It was warm and felt like home. I never thought that giving my heart to someone after what happened would be easy, but it was because of Jotaro that it was. He pulls me closer by my waist as I melt into his touch. We both go to sleep wrapped in eachother's arms.

~~~

"Y/N, y-you look so beautiful!" BF/N says with tears streaming down their face. "I thought you'd be single forever!"

I pass them a tissue. "That's not the first time I've heard that." I laugh.

My parents, Mr. Joestar, Suzi, and Holly enter the room. They compliment me and all cry tears of joy. "Dad, you're getting snot on my dress."

"It's time to start. Are you ready, Y/N?" BF/N asks.

I take a deep breath. "Yes, I'm ready."

I get up and take my father's arm to walk to the field as cherry blossoms fall onto the fresh, green grass. A pathway of red carpet was put out in between 2 large sections of chairs, all filled to the end.

I see my soon-to-be husband at the end of the carpet. I start walking down the aisle slowly with my father. He took the handkerchief in his tuxedo's pocket and started wiping away his tears. "I'm sorry for being a terrible father." He weeps.

"Dad, don't say that." I console him.

"I was. I married you off like you were some money bag. I'm sorry, dear."

His apology brings tears to my eyes. "Shhh, don't be so sad on a happy day. I love him, and it's thanks to you that I met him."

As we near the end of the aisle, I see my husband holding back tears. Hah, that's not the stone-cold demeanor I know. I step up, greeting the wedding officiator. Both of my hands find Jotaro's, and I give him a warm smile.

"You look beautiful. So beautiful." He mouths to me.

Turns out, I didn't need to put on blush anyway.

~~~

It's time to say our vows.

"You know everything about me, Y/N." Jotaro starts. "Except one thing. There was this girl that attended the same senior high as me, but in the grade below. She was always lost in her own world and didn't care about anyone around her except her boyfriend. I wasn't expecting her to, anyway. Suddenly, she missed school for a week, and came back with scars all over her face. Even with those scars, I thought she was beautiful. Her behaviour changed. She seemed more timid and scared of all physical touch. I wondered if she had been abused at home. One day, as she was walking out of school, a novel fell out of her backpack. I picked it up and ran outside to find her, but she was gone and that was the last I saw of her. Her name was written on the first page of the novel— Y/N L/N, the daughter of the XYZ group. I've wanted to give this back to you the moment our parents brought us together. I love you, Y/N, for real this time."

He pulls out a thin book from inside his tuxedo. I flipped the first page. My name was indeed there—in my handwriting. I covered my mouth and tears ran down my face.

It was my turn.

I clear my throat. "I know we weren't on the best terms when we met, but I'm just so glad we did. I believed that I was unlovable— only something to possess. I took comfort in books, never thinking that I'd experience the love I write about. The moment you protected me from someone from my past, I knew I was safe with you. I wasn't sure about everything, but you were patient. You never touched me when I flinched, nor did you say anything about it. It was like you knew what I went through, and you did. When you kissed me for the first time, it wasn't in front of anyone for our image—it was just between us. I feel comfort and safety whenever I'm around you, and... what I'm trying to say is, thank you. Thank you for healing my heart. And with this new heart of mine, I'll love you with all of it."

He looks at me with love and sincerity.