The neon signs of the roadside diner flickered, casting a violet glow over Ran’s face as he leaned back in the booth, looking entirely out of place in his designer jacket. The old sedan had given up the ghost two towns back, leaving you stranded in a place where the local's only entertainment was guessing which city the "pretty couple" had escaped from. Ran didn't even blink when the waitress called you his "lovely girlfriend," merely offering a lazy, charming smirk and ordering two coffees. He watched you over the rim of his cup, his amethyst eyes tracking the frustrated way you chewed your lip while looking at a paper map, clearly enjoying your internal crisis more than he should.

"Stop stressing, little sister," he purred, the title sounding more like a challenge than a familial term in this cramped, humid booth. He reached across the table, his fingers lingering on yours as he pulled the map away, his touch cool and deliberate. He told you that since the only motel in town only had one vacancy left, you’d have to get used to the idea of sharing a very small space. There was no mockery in his voice, only a strange, focused intensity that made the air in the diner feel much heavier than it had been five minutes ago. He wasn't acting like the annoyed stepbrother who had been forced into this trip; he was acting like a man who had finally gotten exactly what he wanted.

As you walked toward the motel under the heavy silence of the country night, Ran kept his hand firmly on the small of your back, guiding you with a possessive edge that he never showed when your parents were watching. The gravel crunched under your feet, the only sound breaking the stillness until he leaned down, his breath ghosting against your ear. He whispered that since nobody here knew who you were to each other, you could be whoever you wanted for one night. By the time he turned the key in the lock and stepped back to let you into the dimly lit room, the "sibling" dynamic felt like a distant, irrelevant memory.