Tainted Love (Carnage x Reader)

5: Every rose has its thorn

Cletus didn't even own a phone when he asked for (Y/n)s number. He only bought one for the soul purpose of messaging her. He wondered how desperate he appeared to (Y/n). Well, he could actually be considered desperate.

He had messaged her in the morning from the apartment he had stolen. He had contemplated what to say for about thirty minutes. Eventually he went with a more casual message. He spoke out loud as he typed, knowing damn well he could hardly type anything. He didn't go to school, so writing and reading had been self taught. “Hey, (Y/n), it's Carnage.”

His finger hovered over the send button for about five seconds before he actually hit it, and when he did he instantly felt regret. He could have said that better, right?

He was sitting on his bed now, holding the phone and watching it with stressful eyes. One hand ran through his hair as he sighed. “Red, why am I stressed? It's like talking, so why am I having a problem doing it?”

“I don't know,” She replied honestly, forming a small head and staring at him with narrowed eyes. He could feel her shifting around in his mind. She paused as she found something of interest. “You're afraid of being rejected. You believe she might try to leave you if you mess this up.”

Cletus sighed at that. “Well that's a new feeling,” He muttered, Red purring softly while watching him. “What? Why are you purring?” He asked, narrowing his eyes at the manifested head of his symbiote.

“It means… Well if you don't want her to go, you must like her. At least enough for you to grow anxious over it,” Red answered, Cletus raising a brow.

“You're telling me this is what starting to like someone feels like?” He questioned.

In response, Red pulled up the memory of (Y/n) when she had been laughing and giving him a smile. The way her eyes shimmered in amusement had taken him off guard. “Yes, Cletus. You're already starting to like her. You grow attached surprisingly quick.”

“Wow… This feeling… It kinda hurts… Like, I'm seriously feeling anxiety. You know how long its been since I felt anxiety?” He froze as his phone buzzed. He quickly grabbed it to see the message.

Hello, Kasady.

Her response and refusal to use the name 'Carnage' made him tilt his head. “Something tells me she doesn't like the symbiote half of us…” He muttered, Red scoffing in return.

“Something tells me she doesn't like us…”

That alone made his anxiety spike. “Well what now? What do I say?” He questioned. He didn't receive a response from Red and he assumed that meant she didn't know either.

Wanna go out again tonight? He asked, already hating his response. Texting her was supposed to be easier, but it just felt even more awkward on his end.

Depends on what you want to do. She replied, causing him to sigh.

“She keeps throwing me curve balls! What do we do now?!” Cletus questioned. Red seemed to join him in the panic.

“Uhhh, I don't know. Dinner! Dinner is good! Not our kind of dinner, but just some sort of dinner,” She replied, trying to think of anything she may have seen from a romance movie.

“Where? No place will let us in! They'll just scream and run away or something.” He argued. “Apparently my murder activities are more well known than I originally thought.”

“Then steal something. Go to the store. Steal some food. Call it dinner. And eat at her apartment. Simple! Done!” Red purred, sounding proud of her plan.