Stay For Me

16 | babysitter

❝ 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒃𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒖𝒑 𝒂 𝒇𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓
𝑰 𝒅𝒊𝒅𝒏'𝒕 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝑰 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒅
𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝑰 𝒔𝒘𝒆𝒂𝒓, 𝑰 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝑰 𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒓
𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒔𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒎𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝑰 𝒅𝒊𝒅 ❞

𝑯𝒐𝒛𝒊𝒆𝒓

* * * * * * *

T H E A

After spending the morning with my mom at her salon, I came back home to have lunch before looking forward to my pre-made plans of laying in bed and watching Netflix.

I look up from my empty plate, sensing a presence in the room and my eyes widen a little when I spot Titan, ruffling his hair with his hand as he walks towards the refrigerator.

"Sup," he mumbles as he turns to face me, his dark chestnut hair tousled and his eyes still bloodshot from lack of sleep.

This guy is some sort of nocturnal animal, I'm sure of it. Somehow he manages to survive on zero hours of sleep but as a result, walks around looking like a zombie during the day time.

We don't have the best relationship in the entire world but.. he's my brother, and no matter how close we are, we will always have each others backs.

"Hey," I reply as I watch him closely. "Why aren't you in school?" I ask and he shrugs his shoulders nonchalantly.

"Mom and dad think I'm there." He says calmly and I blow a bust of air through my nose, shaking my head disapprovingly.

He's supposed to be graduating this year and I just wish he was a little more optimistic about school and took it more seriously.

"I'll go in once I've eaten something, calm down." He groans, clearly sensing my annoyance.

It's strange really. Although I'm not a parent, being the oldest out of your siblings almost makes you have that mothering instinct. I care for my younger brothers as if they were actually my children, sometimes even speaking to them as though they are.

Even though you don't necessarily have to, you sometimes do just take on that responsibility whether you mean to or not.

Although Rio isn't Knox and Ellerie's dad, they both listen to him as though he is. He does carpool, cooks them meals, puts them to bed, takes them to different hobby clubs and activities.

I have the choice to parent my younger siblings, but he doesn't.

"Well you'd better go, or you can kiss your graduation goodbye." I tell him and he rolls his eyes playfully, saluting me in a mocking tone before leaving the kitchen.

I hear commotion coming from the front door and lean over the counter, wondering if my mom or dad have come home. Footsteps quickly sound through the house and my cousin Grey appears, August in his arms.

His eyes flick around the kitchen and he curses under his breath. "Are your parents home?" He asks quickly and I shake my head, my eyes flicking to the one year old gnawing on his closed fist.