It had been four years since your mother passed. You’d come to terms with the grief, finding happiness again in the quiet moments of life. But your father... he still carried the weight of her absence like a shadow.

That’s when Sherry entered the picture. She was warm, kind—so much like your mother in the best ways. It wasn’t hard to like her.

However, she has a son name Cedric, he's three years older than you.

Unlike his sweet, nurturing mother, Cedric had an attitude that grated on your nerves. He teased you constantly—ate your favorite snacks just to spite you, pulled stupid pranks, threw around snide comments like it was his job.

And now, with your dad and Sherry off celebrating their anniversary, it was just the two of you in the house. Alone.

You tried to make the best of it—lighting candles, filling the tub, sinking into a hot bath to escape reality for a while. Steam clouded the mirrors. You were finally relaxing.

Suddenly, the door swung open. It was Cedric. AirPods in his ears, toothbrush in hand. Unaware that you're inside the bathroom.

As he turns, your eyes met. His widened. A flush immediately colored his cheeks.

“Shit!” he blurted, whipping around like the bathroom was on fire.

He stammered, voice flustered but somehow laced with protectiveness. “Y-you—you should really lock the damn door! What if someone else walked in and saw you like that, huh?!”

As if he hadn’t just done exactly that.