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In the Family (DarkofNight & Searching4shadows)

D

DarkofNight

Star
Joined
Dec 17, 2016
For all the inconvenience it started with, third year at college was starting great. I'd managed to line up all my classes so that I had very busy Tuesdays and Thursdays, keeping the rest of the week free for a part time job and generally relaxing and enjoying being young and irresponsible. Last year I lucked into an amazing apartment on the second floor of a florist's in this university town's main square. It had two bedrooms, each with their own bathroom, separated by a kitchen and living room, along with a little deck attached to front door on the side opposite the main square. Sure, all the furniture was thrift store stuff, but I kept it nice and tidy and I'd gotten some great deals with the cash I'd had from my part time jobs, and I never needed to bug mom for money.

Single moms go through a lot of effort just to get you to college, my mom had really stepped up to make sure I had a great childhood. Last year she met a guy, David, who was pretty well off. A bit stuffy, but nice all the same in his own way. She was really happy with him, they did eventually end up getting married, and good for her. The issue was David's daughter, from his previous marriage. Real rich girl attitude on this one.

I was home for the occasional visit, so it didn't matter much to me, I could tolerate her here or there as needed. Then on my last visit, I happened to mention my best friend Will had decided to move in with his girlfriend instead. I mentioned offhand that I was going to have to figure out how to pay rent or find a new roommate fast, when David mentioned that daddy's little princess had gotten accepted to my university too, and he'd feel a lot safer if she had a grown man looking out for her. At first I was against it, then David offered to cover rent for both of us, and utilities, and really, I'm no idiot.

So yeah, I don't think she cared for the decor, but really once we got into the swing of things, she was gone for a lot of the time I was home and vise versa. It all seemed to be working out ok. She was pretty tidy, even cooked dinner a couple times that week, which I appreciated.

Friday night was a tradition in town, the whole square opened up to a big masquerade ball. There was drinking, bonfires, live music, food, it was a way to cut loose and celebrate being back at school for another year, and Rob had loved it ever since, as a young freshman he'd gotten silly drunk but still managed to come home with phone numbers of three different girls. One of his good friends was a design major, and had designed some fairly elaborate masks for himself, Rob, and a couple of their other friends this year, and Rob was eating the attention up.

He'd had a few drinks, to make a long story short he met a girl. Pretty, actually just his type. From what he could tell anyway. She had a gorgeous purple lacy filigree mask that covered almost all of her face, apart from a narrow spot for her mouth and her chin. That mouth - she was a great kisser. At one point they found a quiet park bench and enjoyed each other's company. Clothes stayed on, though Rob tried to talk her in to coming back to his place for less of those. She told him he was a little too drunk to really enjoy that, which he though was silly, but that if he wanted to try getting to know her sober, she'd be waiting on the same park bench the next evening at 7. Wouldn't even give him her phone number.

He eventually rejoined his friends and got a few congratulatory high fives before being dragged off for more masked shenanigans. He kept thinking back to that girl as the night dragged on, excited for the next night. Finally he made his way home and crashed, intent on sleeping off the beer and getting a fresh start the next day. While his hangover was minor, when he left his room the next morning, he saw something that froze him in his tracks. The intricate lacy purple filigree mask, laying right next to his step-sister's purse on the kitchen table.
 
Morning had come for Rhonda far too quickly, and as she awoke she wished she hadn't. Even the smallest of sounds seemed to be amplified to maximum volume and somehow seemed to be piercing straight through to her brain. As she pulled the pillow out from under her head and dumped it ontop to drown out the noise, she fervently wished she could go back to sleep. She was having the most wonderful dream. In her dream she was back at the party from the night before, still making out with the hot guy on the park bench. Well, at least, from what she could see he was hot. He was still wearing his worn black leather jacket, faded jeans, and tight black tshirt which hid the neckline of the mask he was wearing. Rhonda could tell just by looking at it that it had been custom-made and at a really high standard. Anyone could just could cut rubber to make it look like a Batman mask, but this was the real deal. She couldn't quite tell what what it was made of, but it perfectly creased at the brow line and showed only the eyes and mouth, just like the real one.

Because of it's intricate design, it was impossible to tell who was under the mask. But to Rhonda, she didn't care. He was tall, slightly muscular, and had the bluest eyes she'd ever seen. She guessed he was a few years older because he was cool and confident in his approach, unlike the nervous twitchy guys her age. In her dream she'd slowly removed his mask and was about to reveal who was under the mask when she'd been awoken by the stupid garbage trucks that dragged her kicking and screaming from her dreams. Didn't they have better things to do?

Unable to silence the jackhammer in her head and return to sleep, she groaned loudly as every muscle ached when she moved to sit up. She reached for her designer sunglasses and put them on before reaching for the aspirin. Quickly taking two, and accidentally spilling most of the contents of the aspirin bottle on the floor, she stood up, only to fall back on the bed. With one hand she cradled her heavy head, and with the other she reached out and grabbed onto one of the bed posts, successfully standing up this time. To ensure she didn't fall down again she took small wavering steps to the bathroom, but as soon as she saw the bathroom floor, those extra drinks she'd somehow managed to consume the night before kissed the toilet bowl in an unflattering gutteral heave.

Kneeling on the bathroom floor, she grabbed the nearest towel and wiped her mouth, before realising she was still wearing the cute little ombre blue and purple number she'd worn to the party the night before. Quickly removing the dress , not wanting to dirty it more, she tossed it in the hamper, closed the lid, slipped into her robe and washed her face. She knew it wouldn't be long before her goody-goody "superhero" of an older stepbrother came in to check on her. She wasn't sure she could handle his sickeningly sweet upbeat attitude that morning.
 
He heard her stumbling in her room, that broke him out of his momentary shock. He was about to check on her when that unmistakable sound of retching sounded through the apartment. Better to let her have some time to herself.

Was he supposed to tell her? Hope she forgot? No-show to their meeting?

He decided to play it cool for now. Pancakes and bacon with some coffee made for a good hangover cure. He got started cooking.
 
As Rhonda emerged from her bathroom, she heard Rob moving about in the kitchen and didn't know whether to be offended or relieved that he hadn't come to check up on her. She settled for disappointed, but would never tell him that.

She was feeling better now that she'd discarded most of the nasty toxins she'd consumed the night before, and smelling unmistakably coffee, pancakes and bacon she quickly dressed in her pale purple tank top and long pajama bottoms and made her way to the kitchen. Ignoring all else she opened the fridge door, took out a bottle of water and placed it against her still throbbing head before pulling out a stool and taking a seat at the breakfast bar. "You weren't kidding about last night," she commented, watching Rob cook. "The whole town really does come out to party."
 
He'd avoided looking at her as she entered, finally turning toward her with bacon and pancakes in hand. For a moment, he thought maybe he'd imagined it, it was a different girl. Who knows, maybe you can buy that mask at every party store across the country, right? He checked her out as he set the food down. Yeah, the dress was way more flattering, but those curves looked awfully familiar. Which wasn't to say she looked bad now. He had to shake himself to stop oogling her breasts, covered as they were in just a light tank top.

"Coffee?" he offered. "Yeah, I heard you getting up, sounded like you got up to a lot of fun last night. You must have gotten in after I did, what'd you end up doing all night?"

Who knows, maybe she'd met someone else and was gonna ditch Batman anyway. She looked good last night, surely no shortage of guys were hitting on her after all. It would make it a lot less awkward if they never had to mention each other's mysterious make out partner.

But he really didn't want that. He poured her a cup of coffee, setting out cream and sugar for her before setting down. As they ate he kept staring at her lips. He wanted to feel them against his again, she'd been kissing him ravenously the night before. The little noises she made while he was kissing down her neck got him really excited. He was kicking himself now, they might have continued kissing for a while longer if he hadn't been trying so hard to get her to come home with him. He imagined the awkward seen that would have transpired if he'd succeeded at bringing her home though. Then again, she did kind of come home with him anyway. It was stupid, but it made him laugh, just a little. He stifled it quickly.
 
"Thanks," she murmured as she took the offered coffee. As she stirred in cream she thought back to the night before. She blushed slightly as she thought about the hot guy she'd met, but quickly shrugged off, trying to remember what else had happened that night. "Well, Samantha Johnson, you remember her, somehow decided around 2am that she wanted a pic with every guy who was there, so somehow I was roped into being her camera lackey," she said laughing slightly. "The square security guards weren't impressed when she thought that should include the statue man, you know the one on the high steps. She was so drunk, she climbed up, sat in his lap ontop of the horse and started making out with him!"

She cut into the pancakes, adding offhand, "But then again she was making out with everyone." Taking her first bite she groaned delightedly. "These are good, bro!" Eating a few more bites, she finally noticed the mask she'd left by her purse. "Oh, that reminds me, I've got to give that back to her. She forgot to take it with her." Rhonda had borrowed the mask from Samantha. She was doing her a service really. How she thought she could pull off such an elegant mask, Rhonda didn't know. The plain red one with the feather was much more Sam's style. "I think we got in around 3...did you even go last night? I don't even think I remember seeing you there."
 
It was Samantha's mask! That took the shock out of his morning in a hurry. He started cutting into his pancakes, feeling his appetite returning. She was making out with everyone too. That made him less special, sure, but somehow took pressure off. Not like he and Samantha were going to start dating now.

"Yeah we were out, I was pretty sloshed pretty early, I think I got home around 1", he said brightly between bites of food. "I don't think you met my friend Howard yet. He's in the materials design program, does these really elaborate masks every year for us in exchange for buying his drinks and using them in his portfolio."

She was right, for off-brand powdered pancake mix, these were delicious.

"So this year he did a big elaborate DC comics theme. He was Aquaman, cause he expected us to keep him drinking like a fish. I got to be Batman."

He was concentrating on his plate, but realized there was a long moment of uncomfortable silence. He looked up, eyes looking with hers.
 
BATMAN! Rob was at the party. Rob was at the party as Batman. Rob was at the party in an above average Batman mask. Rob was at the party in above average Batman mask and he got drunk early. Rhonda suddenly felt as if the room was spinning. The pancakes she had just put in her mouth somehow now tasted like cardboard and she found that it took forever to finish that one bite. Instead of panicking, she quickly went through the facts in her head. In the silence Rhonda was able to figure out that he hadn't said if he'd met anyone. He hadn't said what he'd done, but if Rob had met and made out with a girl, like Rhonda suspected, he'd be bragging about it right? And there were a few Batman masks around that night. It had to have been somone else right?

Putting down her knife and fork, she looked into his eyes and instantly regretted it. They were blue! Just like...uhoh. Her gaze was drawn slowly from his eyes to his lips, and a shiver ran down her spine. To her they looked so soft and inviting. But how was this even possible? And was it right to be looking at him this way. She tore her gaze away, picking up her plate and moving it to the sink. Biting the bullet, she decided she needed to learn more. "Batman huh? That sounds pretty cool." She turned from the sink back to his direction and as discretely as she could she asked, "Couldn't have gotten into too much trouble then if you were gone by 1am, right?" Not even realising she was doing it, she crossed her arms in front of her. "So what just a few drinks at the pub before bed?"
 
"Well it sounds like I was one of Samantha's early victims. Don't worry, it sounds like she's not going to remember one drunk guy. Now that I know who it was, I won't be a creeper to her or something." He'd been so relieved thinking that it wasn't actually Rhonda he'd been making out with that he'd initially missed the slight hesitation in her voice. There was something strange about how she was acting today, he looked back up at her as the realization hit him. His stomach sank so quickly it should have made a loud thud as it hit the ground.

"You borrowed that mask from Samantha last night, didn't you? It was you wearing it." he asked, confirming his earlier suspicion.

He looked at her, waiting for a response, suddenly somewhat scared to breathe, every beat of his heart thudding in his ears.
 
Samantha? Why was he talking about Samantha? Victim? What was he talking about? "Well, yeah I borrowed it..." she started before registering the look on his face. Samantha was making out with every guy...he said he was one of her victims...Her face dropped along with her lungs. He really was the one in the Batman mask. "Oh holy fuck!" she whispered, clamping a hand over her mouth, willing herself to wake up. Afterall, this had to be a dream right? She hadn't just had the most amazing make out session with her stepbrother! Had she?!

"No, no, this can't be right. It can't be!"
 
He was suddenly very glad that he was sitting down. His head felt like it was spinning.

"I spent a long time making out with someone in a mask like that and a blue and purple dress. We were supposed to meet at that same park bench at 7 tonight to see if we hit it off without booze and masks..."

Everything he was terrified of first thing this morning, seeing that mask on the kitchen table was coming to pass. This was bound to make living together awkward as hell. What was promising to be a great start to the year looked as though it was going to come crashing down in a rain of filial misunderstandings and guilt.

"Look, neither of us realized it was the other person. It was a bad judgement on both our parts. For starters, let's agree not to tell mom or your dad about it, right?"
 
As he recalled the events from the night before, she instantly remembered it all in clear detail. She was wearing the blue and purple dress and he was wearing that faded leather jacket. They had promised to meet up tonight to reveal their identities, but that was kind of mute now. She knew exactly how she got along with him. She was his stepsister.

"Um of course we're not telling our parents!" she stated starting to panic. "I don't want anyone finding out about this! I have a perfect reputation to uphold. You on the other hand..." she gestured with a shrug of the shoulders. "Look, it was a mistake. A BIG mistake, that I'm assuming we just want to forget about? So let's just pretend it never happened. Ok? It never happened!" she said quickly stringing most of her words together, pacing the kitchen floor in a frenzy.
 
"Me on the other hand? What the hell is that supposed to mean?" He wasn't sure where that comment came from, but he suddenly found himself kind of pissed off. "Maybe we won't forget about. How much is your precious reputation around here worth to you, cause apparently mine won't be damaged a bit if I go blabbing about how my stepsister made out with me at the carnival party."

He had no intention of actually doing that, of course. That privileged little princess attitude just pissed him off, made him want to put her in her place. The threat came out before he'd even really thought through it.
 
"Oh calm down," she bit off. "We both know my dad would give you anything you asked for so blackmailing is just ridiculous," she said brushing off his threat. "Besides we've got worse things to worry about. What if someone facebooked last night and we're in the background...you know...What if someone figures it out? What if...what if...what if!"

She was getting more and more panicked by the second. And what shocked her more, was that finding out it was Rob didn't have the negative reaction it could have. Neither did she regret it. She was more worried about what people would say.
 
"Rhonda... Think about it. Our mouths were physically in contact with each other for a long time. Facebook works by facial recognition... Only Samantha knew you were wearing that mask, only my friends knew I was Batman. The only way that's coming to light is if Samantha and my friends suddenly start hanging out, and she's too bitchy and upright for that."

He laughed. Then he laughed harder.

"Lighten up for a minute and just appreciate that you got through your first mistake college hookup without a walk of shame."
 
She glared as he started laughing, and when he told her to lighten up she let out a slightly high pitched huff and stormed off to her room. She hated the fact that logically, Rob was right on both counts. It was pretty dark the night before and the chances of being tagged would have been pretty low, and technically yes, Samantha wouldn't go anywhere near his friends. But, anything was possible.

She collapsed onto her bed and clutched her pillow curling up on her side. First week in and she had already screwed up. And the worst part was, she couldn't stop thinking about that kiss. The way his hands moved against her body, the way his lips moved across hers, the way he seemed to innately know what turned her on. She mentally shook off the thought. She had to take her own advice and pretend it didn't happen. But the question was, could she forget?
 
He walked in a few minutes later. It stuck him that he hadn't seen her room since the day she moved in and grew lugged box after heavy box up the stairs to help her. Short of painting, the feminine touch was obvious, and looked oddly out of place compared to the rest of the apartment.

"Sorry. That I threatened you I mean. You came off like you thought you were better than me, that pissed me off, I was trying to be hurtful. What a weird coincidence, you know? We both met someone last night, hit it off, made plans to meet, and both got stood up. Weird unlucky coincidence huh?"

He sat on the edge of the bed, touching her arm softly.

"Don't let this wreck your life, we'll both get over this. Meantime I'm going to give you a little space."

He got up again, turning and moving toward the door.
 
"Rob, wait," she said sitting up on the bed. "Thank you. And you don't have to do that...er giving me space i mean." She paused and gently patted the spot on the mattress beside her. "We've been getting along ok this week and I wouldn't want that to stop." She looked down at the ground. "Dadd-..." she started, obviously trying to stop herself from saying Daddy, "...Dad says I have these, "princess moments " when it comes to money. So....I'm sorry too. Growing up with it never being an issue, you don't know whether people are there for you or your money." She turned her gaze to his. "You're the first guy I've known that hasn't started every conversation with 'So, like, you should buy me this, or, I have this bill that I just can't pay'", she imitated using a comically deep hipster-like voice. She giggled gently, "I mean, I know Dad's paying you to babysit me...but, he also didn't want you to lose the apartment. He likes you." She looked down at the floor again. "I guess, I do too."
 
He turned, walking slowly back toward the bed.

"I like you too - most of the time. The 'princess moments' I could do without." he gave her an easy smile, sitting down next to her on the bed. "All the same, I'm failing as your babysitter if I'm getting you into trouble instead of keeping you out of it. Your dad isn't paying me, he's paying my rent, making my semester a little easier. Maybe there's not a big difference there, but I wouldn't take his money just for keeping an eye on you. Like you said before, your dad would give me anything I asked for, there's a reason I don't ask."

He returned her gaze.

"For what it's worth though, I'm sorry to hear guys treat you like that. You're way too good a kisser to be just a paycheck."
 
She smiled as his words soothed her, making her feel better. When he called her a good kisser, she blushed slightly. Her eyes lit up slightly as she asked jokingly, "you think I'm a good kisser?" She shoved his side a little, "You're not so bad yourself. "

Even though they were just being playful, her gaze travelled down to his lips again. A soft breeze blew through Rhonda's open bedroom window, sending a shiver across her body for more than one reason. As Rob sat on the bed next to her, she could smell his familiar scent from the night before, triggering a memory. At one point she had leaned in and kissed his strong neckline, while his hands had gently roamed her sides, moving further and further northward to her-

"Ok!" She said shakily bringing her out of her reverie. She quickly tried to calm her body down, whilst also trying to hide the flush in her cheeks. But the one thing she couldn't control was her hardened nipples against the tank top, now aching to be touched. She brought the pillow up and hugged it against her chest. "Well, I guess I'd better find something to do today."
 
He chuckled, standing. "Sounds like that's my cue. Just be careful with the flirting, I might invite you out drinking and see how many beers it takes to get you making more bad decisions. I'm going to run down the street and grab an omelet before work."

He paused at the doorway, turning around and grinning. "Might start by adding another layer, looks as though it's a bit cold for your current outfit" he smiled and gave her a wink.

He made a slight din in the common room getting his class work shuffled into his backpack and throwing on the worn leather jacket from the night before, letting the door close behind him with an audible click.
 
She gasped at his final comment, knowing exactly to what he was implying, grabbed her pillow and threw it at him. Unfortunately for her it missed and hit the door, swinging it wide open before it bounced back and closed with not nearly as much force as she would've liked. It didn't matter anyway, because by the time she'd thrown it he was well out of harms way. His last response though had puzzled her. Had Rob really just hinted at asking her out sometime? No! Well, not the way she was hoping for, not that she was even sure what that even meant. But he had hinted at wanting to see her make more bad decisions....

Just thinking about it was doing her head in. Luckily she had the day off, and when she heard that he had left, she knew what she had to do. But first, she had to do some damage control. She picked up her phone. "Hey, girl! How you feeling?...That bad huh?...Look shutup for a second. I gotta ask you something."

Convinced that Samantha didn't remember anything worth remembering she hung up feeling better. But not as good as she could be. Quickly she got changed and taking the credit card her dad had given her for emergencies, she made her way to the mall. Trying to forget the events of the night before was a definite emergency.
 
He realized of course that he'd already eaten by the time he got to the restaurant, but decided to have a cup of coffee and catch up on some reading for school instead. How the hell was he supposed to concentrate at home with Rhonda wearing skimpy clothes lounging around a few feet away? For all his feigned confidence, he had no idea how to make things not-awkward between them now. On the one hand, he hated her spoiled ass attitude and did kind of resent being forced to look out for her. On the other hand, step sister or no, as good as last night was, he wanted to take it further.

It seemed like most everyone else in town was hung over or otherwise uninterested in getting things done that day, which made for a quiet and stress free day at work for him. He finally got home a little after sunset, climbing up the steps and unlocking his front door.
 
Rhonda, unfortunately, had become more and more frustrated throughout the course of the day. Normally a good shopping therapy session would do her some good. But she had been out all day and had bought nothing. NOTHING! She couldn't believe it. She'd walked the brightly lit aisles for hours, but nothing seemed to stand out for her. Even her never-fail 'pick-me-up' lunch had failed to quell the frustration she felt.

She'd come home in the afternoon, and watched the shopping network for two hours. And then she'd found it. The key to her salvation. The most gorgeous little charm bracelet. On sale! She picked up the phone and quickly typed in the number, only to be told that the show she was watching was a week old and they had run out of stock. She barely heard the front door unlock as she yelled back at the clerk on the other end, "oh yeah! Well up yours too!"

She angrily switched off the television and threw her phone softly against the couch beside her. She got up, suddenly needing a drink and got up off the couch, and caught sight of the door opening. She found herself immediately softening, something she would never do. She called out embarrassed, "oh hey! Sorry if you heard all that...um, do you want a drink?" she asked grabbing a cruiser for herself.
 
He rolled his eyes a little, hearing her shouting as he walked in.

"Little late for a hair of the dog isn't it, miss burgeoning underage alcoholic? You know, it's been a while since I did the phone sex thing, but I think shouting "screw you" into the phone and hanging up is counter-productive." He said, laughing as he dropped his backpack in the chair near the door.

He walked to the kitchen, taking a beer from the fridge and grabbing one for her too.

"What have you done all day?"
 
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