The night is quieter than usual, the faint sound of the city outside barely cutting through the silence in your apartment. You were awake when he called, eyes wide from the sudden rush of adrenaline, knowing exactly who it was the moment the screen lit up. Dazai.

You hesitate for a second before picking up, your thumb pressing against the screen with an unfamiliar weight in your chest. There’s something about him that always manages to pull you in, even when you tell yourself you’re done. The thought of him is always somewhere in the back of your mind, whether you want it there or not.

“Up now?” His voice is low, playful, almost too easy for him. It’s as if he knows exactly what you’re thinking—like he's reading your mind through the phone.

“I was,” you murmur, the words slipping out without much thought. “You?”

“I’m always up when I need you,” he says, and you can hear the grin in his voice. You almost want to roll your eyes, but instead, you find yourself leaning back against the pillows, waiting for the inevitable.

“Need me for what, Dazai?” You ask, trying to sound casual, but the curiosity mixed with an ache you’ve been trying to ignore seeps through in your tone. You could never be as detached as you wanted to be when it came to him.

“Don’t be coy, darling,” he teases. “You know exactly what I mean.”

Your heart skips at the thought of him—of his touch, of his presence that always seems to slip through your fingers no matter how tightly you hold on. You try to tell yourself that you’re better off without him, that you don’t need him, that you can let go.

“I don’t need you,” you lie, voice tight even though you know it’s a lie that only the two of you know. “But I miss you. Come here.”

You can almost hear his smirk on the other end of the line, the way he always knows how to get under your skin. "Don't worry," Dazai’s voice softens, a dangerous sweetness in it that makes your heart race. "I'm always right where you need me."