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Vinnie didn’t even think before he lunged.
Habit moved fast, faster than Evan ever could, and that alone made Vinnie’s stomach turn. He could look, act, and even feel like Evan. But Vinnie knew what lays beneath the skin was anything but.
“Please just stop,” Vinnie snapped, even though Habit wasn’t really doing anything yet. It didn’t matter. It felt like he was.
Habit laughed. “Or what?”
That was enough.
Vinnie tackled him, the both of them crashing hard into the floor. The impact knocked the breath out of Vinnie but he didn’t stop nor hesitate, he instead just scrambled to pin Habit’s wrists down.. It was stupid, maybe, thinking he could restrain something like this, but he had to try. He had to.
Habit thrashed under him, grinning the whole time, like this was fun. Like it was a game.
“You think you can hold me?” Habit said, voice slipping in that way that made Vinnie’s head hurt. “You think he’s even still in here?”
“Shut up,” Vinnie muttered, tightening his grip. His hands were shaking but he ignored it. “Just shut up for once.”
Habit tilted his head, expression changing just slightly. The tension shifted, like a string pulled too tight suddenly loosening.
And then,
Evan gasped.
It was small and sharp. His body went slack under Vinnie, not fighting anymore, breathing too fast. His eyes were wide and unfocused.
“V-Vin…?” Evan’s voice cracked, like he hadn’t used it in hours, maybe longer.
Vinnie froze.
For a second he thought it was another trick. Another layer of whatever the hell Habit was doing. But Evan’s face… it wasn’t twisted into that horrible grin anymore. It was scared. Completely, honestly scared.
“Hey—hey, it’s me,” Vinnie said, his grip loosening without him meaning to. “You’re okay, I got you—”
“What’s happening?” Evan’s words came out rushed, tripping over each other. “I can’t—I don’t remember, I was just—there was—something’s wrong with me, Vinnie, something is really wrong—”
His breathing hitched and suddenly he was crying, messily and panicked like he couldn’t stop it even if he wanted to.
Vinnie swore under his breath and let go completely, pulling Evan up instead. “Hey, no, no, you’re okay, you’re okay,” he said, even though he wasn’t sure that was true at all. He wrapped his arms around him, holding him tight. Evan clung back immediately, like he was drowning.
“I can’t think right,” Evan mumbled into his shoulder. “It’s like… like I’m not alone in my own head and I don’t know when it’s me anymore—”
“It’s him,” Vinnie said quietly. “It’s Habit. He’s—”
Evan flinched at the name, grip tightening. “Don’t say it, don’t—please—”
“Okay, okay,” Vinnie adjusted, rubbing his back awkwardly. “I won’t. Just… just breathe, alright? I’m here. I’m not letting anything happen to you.”
For a second, it almost felt calm.
And then Evan went completely still.
Vinnie knew what was happening before he could see anything. That shift. That awful, creeping presence sliding back into place like it never left.
“Fuck,” Vinnie whispered, pulling back.
Evan’s head tilted slowly. That grin came back.
“Miss me?”
Vinnie barely had time to react before Habit surged forward, flipping their positions in one quick movement. Suddenly Vinnie was the one on the floor, breath knocked out again, wrists pinned this time.
“You really shouldn’t get so close,” Habit murmured, leaning down, voice almost soft now. “Makes things complicated.”
“Get off me,” Vinnie snapped, struggling, but Habit had leverage and strength that didn’t feel human.
“Oh, I don’t think I will.”
They fought, obviously.
Vinnie twisted, tried to throw him off, got a knee up between them, anything to get space. Habit countered everything with this weird fluid ease, like he already knew what Vinnie would do before he did it.
It got messy and far closer than it should of been.
Faces inches apart, their breaths mingling. Habit’s hands were gripping harder than needed.
Something shifted again.
Not like before, however. The tension sharpened and turned into something tighter and more confusing in a way that made Vinnie hesitate for half a second too long.
Habit noticed.
Of course he did.
“That’s new,” Habit said quietly, eyes flicking down to Vinnie’s mouth for just a second before meeting his eyes again.
“Shut up,” Vinnie said, but it came out rougher than he meant.
Habit leaned in instead of pulling back.
Vinnie should’ve headbutted him. Should’ve turned away. Should’ve done literally anything else.
He didn’t.
Their mouths crashed together. It was messy and aggressive and honestly kinda stupid, like neither of them fully understood why it was happening but neither of them stopped either. Vinnie grabbed at Habit’s shirt, half to shove him away, half to pull him closer, which made no sense and he knew it.
Habit made this low sound, almost a laugh against his mouth, and shifted his weight again, keeping Vinnie pinned.
They broke apart only long enough to breathe before it just… happened again.
Still fighting. Still trying to overpower each other. Just now with this added layer that made everything more confusing and way more intense than it needed to be.
Vinnie finally shoved him hard enough to create space, gasping. “What the hell is wrong with you?”
Habit grinned, wiping at his mouth like it meant nothing. “I was about to ask you the same thing.”
And underneath all of it, somewhere deep in those eyes, just for a second; something else flickered.
It went as quickly as it came, leaving before Vinnie could be sure it was even there.