To Hate My Stepbrother

Ava’s POV

The sound of Mason’s laughter wasn’t as annoying as it usually was, I lifted my gaze to look at him and I was absolutely dazed.

His face glowed so beautifully, making him appear almost ethereal right now. I stared at him for what seemed like hours till his voice jolted me out of my thoughts.

“C’mon, up you go.” He murmured, tilting his head before snorting out another laugh. I tried to stand after a few minutes, but my leg was really stuck.

“I can’t, I’m stuck.” I pointed out and he rolled his eyes before holding his hand out. I bit on my lower lip and regard his outstretched hand withou reaching for it.

“Are you gonna accept it or not? It’s not gonna bite.” He drawled out, making color fill up my cheeks as I glared up at him and jammed my hand in his larger one.

He arched an eyebrow at me as he jerked me upwards so fast that I felt my head spin a little. I’d have collided into his chest if I hadn’t held my second hand out, and that supposed second hand is currently pressing into his hatdy chest.

With a mortified sound, I tugged my hand to myself while feeling my cheeks heat up some more.

“Can you walk?” He asked after clearing his throat a little, turning me glance down at my foot to check if I had any bruises.

“I wouldn’t let you carry me even if I couldn’t walk.” I spat and he bursted out laughing once again.

“Now, what made you think I ever want to carry you? I wouldn’t wanna waste my strength on a piece of shit, now would I?” He demanded and I felt my heart hardened.

“Hey!” I snapped and the glint in his eyes while he snorted was priceless.

“I mean, I could just drag you like a sack of potatoes till we’re home instead. You have a problem with me carrying you now but last night, you had no problem with almost crawling into my lap while the horror movie was showing.” He reminded me with a raised eyebrow.

The irritation I had already began to feel didn’t take long to melt into embarrassment and I folded my hands as I shrugged. “You know I’d never do that when I’m myself. That was the horror movie’s fault. You should blame yourself for picking that genre.”

He remained quiet but after a few minutes of just staring at me, he let out a snort.

Feeling irritated, I began walking away but I could clearly hear Mason’s manic laughter behind me.

“Hey, don’t run off again only to get lost and worse, get your leg stuck in somewhere again.” He called out amidst laughter and I raised my middle finger up at him without stopping.

He easily caught up with me and after a while of walking around, we finally got back to the right track home, thanks to Mason.

He looked tired and out of breath but he didn’t complain. He had to still drive home after everything and deep down, I knew I couldn’t deny that I felt bad. I knew I should apologise to him.

He had only been trying to have fun and had I ruined it by getting us lost. I couldn’t help but feel awkward as I stole glances at him during the ride home, but his eyes were fixated on the road.

We got home and I made my way to the kitchen. If I couldn’t apologise to him verbally, then I could do that indirectly by making dinner for him.

Food is the way to a man’s heart, after all.

I finished cooking and had the table set for the both of us while I patiently waited for him to come back downstairs so we could eat together.

It got really late and it was safe to conclude that he was never going to come downstairs again that night, and that realization was enough to make me lose my appetite. Fuming, I made my way to my room.

Tossing and turning on the bed, I found it hard to fall asleep and I couldn’t help but get angry at him for not coming down for dinner.

Why did I care if he came downstairs and ate my food or not?

It’s not like I even called him down. Well, I had assumed he’d automatically come down after some time.

Finally putting my headphones on and listening to some calming music, I closed my eyes and the memories of what happened today started running through my mind.

I couldn’t help but picture his face when he was laughing and the way he smiled when he teased me. Shaking my head, I tried to get the thought of Mason out of my head since I was still mad at him.

Closing my eyes, I tried to catch some sleep and soon, I drifted off.

I opened my eyes to the brightness of the sun in my room, groaning, I pulled the curtains close before making my way down the stairs and there he was.

He was wearing grey pants and a white T-shirt, I rolled my eyes as I tried to walk past him but he decided to talk.

“Good morning, how are you and how is your leg?” He asked and I could tell that he was only being caring but I was still mad at him.

“It’s none of your business, leave me alone!” I shot at him and telling from the shock on his face, he was clearly taken aback by my outburst.

Not saying another word, he left quietly for his room and again I was left wallowing in regret.

I shouldn’t have been that hard on him.This content © Nôv/elDr(a)m/a.Org.

I didn’t see him for the rest of the morning and afternoon until the evening when he came to inform me about cancelling the reservation we had tonight.

“Our parents don’t have to know that we skipped it and we also don’t have to go since each other’s faces are the last thing we both want to see, from the look of things.” He added lightly and I shrugged.

He turned to leave and even though I didn’t want to see or talk to him, I had no idea why I felt bad about the fact that he cancelled tonight’s dinner, knowing damn well that it’s definitely because of me.

Sitting alone and watching TV that evening, I felt lonely for the first time since we arrived here and even though I’d tried to shrug off the feeling, I knew I missed his presence.

Clutching the pillow hard and pulling it close to my chest, I blinked my eyes open at once on realising that which I’m currently doing.

When did I start feeling this way towards… Mason?

Picking up my phone, I hurriedly called Nicole and explained what’s going on with me to her.

“Please, Nicole. Tell me I’m not losing my mind over him and I’m just overreacting.” I said after explaining everything to Nicole from yesterday’s encounter till this evening.

Nicole was silent for a while before she spoke.

“You know what I suggest?” She hummed, jolting me out of my thoughts.

“What?”

“That you stop acting like a child and just fucking go apologize!” She yelled and I couldn’t believe she’d said that.

She wants me to… apologising?

To Mason of all people?

No fucking way.

Without responding, I disconnected the call.

But as minutes morphed into hours, I thought about what she suggested, over and over again.