all credits to @/cherienymphe on tumblr!!
Summary: After the untimely death of his father, Rafe takes it upon himself to become the man of the house.
warnings: NON-CON, STEPCEST, AGE GAP, mentions of major character death, depression, alcoholism, stepmom!reader, underage drinking, canon ages
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The overwhelming feeling of being watched turned out to be true.
You flinched at the sight of the figure standing next to your bed, eerily still and eerily familiar in the darkness. Reason took over, and your heart started to slow just as quickly as it had started to race. You struggled to move, legs twisted within the sheets as you reached over to turn on the lamp. Sleep was still clinging to you, desperate to pull you back in, but you pushed it away with one look at Rafe's face.
"It's 8 o'clock," was all he said in that tone you had never cared for.
Once his words actually registered though, you swallowed down the mild irritation that had threatened to bubble up. You felt your heart drop to your stomach as you blinked, staring at him with parted lips before hurrying to search for your phone. When it bounced out of your unsteady hands and onto the floor, you cursed.
Sliding out of bed, you unfortunately confirmed that it was indeed 8 o'clock.
Now 8:03.
"Shit," you breathed, pressing your hand to your forehead. "Um..."
You swiped your tongue between your lips, noting how dry they felt.
"Tell Wheezie-."
"I already took Wheezie to school."
The teenager's words surprised you, and your hand fell, staring at him in a mixture of shock and shame. At those words, you finally registered the look on his face, and you found yourself thinking that his tone earlier made a lot more sense. You opened and closed your mouth, fighting to figure out how to respond. Unfortunately, you didn't come up with anything clever.
"...oh."
You watched the blond cross his arms over his chest, head tilted with the barest of frowns between his brows.
"I'm sorry," you finally added, letting out a sigh. "I overslept and my alarm didn't go off and..."
You found yourself trailing off, hating the sound of your excuses.
You got the feeling that Rafe hated the sound of them too by the even stare he fixed you with. You imagined that he hadn't planned on dropping Wheezie off to her first day of school this year, and while it was something you both knew he should expect to do sometimes, it was also something he should've been asked to do. You couldn't even remember going to bed the previous night, and you were sure the two bottles of wine you'd consumed had something to do with it.
"Should I anticipate dropping her off tomorrow too?"
There was an edge in his voice that you didn't like but couldn't necessarily be angry at.
"No," you told him, tone sheepish. "I'll get up on time."
Rafe didn't respond, but he also didn't leave right away. He simply stood there, drinking you in with a frown. There was a look that passed through his eyes that made you think he probably wanted to say something, but if that were true, he swiftly changed his mind. You watched him silently leave, and you resisted the urge to sigh, closing your eyes instead.
