• Troublesome • Rhett x Reader •

• Chapter Twenty Four •

"Oh, that's awesome. Tell him I said 'sup daddio.'"

"Yeah, I'm not saying that."

"One more thing before you go," she hints at this encounter finally coming to an end, "are you and Rhett together?"

Simple question, spoken with no audible bitterness or venom. Easily taken for idle curiosity. But with her, I suspect more. As usual.

"What? What do you mean?"

"Like, together. Dating. Fucking, perhaps?"

Still no bitterness on my radar, and the wording could easily be passed off as her typical vocabulary.

"No, we aren't. He's just been helping me a lot." Shrugging, I continue. "I know what it seems like though, and it's getting annoying."

That last part was an after thought. Something to make it a little more believable.

"Oh, okay." She takes it in as the truth - which it is - and begins retreating back into her home. "Just askin'. See you at work!"

"Yeah, bye..."

Okay, now to get going before Rhett thinks I've died.

"Hey." I slam the car door shut behind me as I step out and onto the driveway.

"Didn't expect to run into you here." Rhett cracks as he swings open his car door. "Come here often?"

My eyes shift a dead-pan glare between him and my house.

"Don't look at me like that, I'm a comedian, you know."

"I wouldn't say that..." a smile threatens to tug at the sides of my mouth, so I turn away to grab my things from the car. I feel him step closer, though. And, upon standing back up and turning, he's directly in front of me, leaning against the vehicle. His familiar scent warms me despite being feet away from one another. I've always had this stupid little crush on him, but now there's something almost... Scary to it. Now that he's strolled so deeply into my life with such ease, it makes it harder to run away if I ever were to end up feeling the need to. He's gracefully taken in the burden of my whole parental situation, he's lifted financial burdens.

I am afraid to feel like I owe anything to anyone, and this is just way too real - way too fast.

"I was just thinking that we should go out." Rhett smiles down at me.

I choke up.

"Like, to Walmart again?" I question.

"No, to dinner. A proper dinner; not pizza."

A cool wave of relief washes down my spine, but with a subtle twinge of fear.

"I'm not a 'proper dinner' sort of person. Meet me halfway?"

"Applebee's. 8 o'clock."

"I'll see if I can rearrange my schedule."

Our snarky exchanges come to an end as he bestows upon me with a single head-pat before returning to his car and flashing me a wink. With a sudden goodbye and another mission to prepare for, I waste no time rushing past my father and back upstairs to, hopefully, find something to wear. Something that says 'I care enough about what you think of me, so i go out of my way to make myself presentable for you on occasion.'

Laid out on top of my bed sheets are handfuls of clothing articles that I think I may be able to salvage a nice outfit out of. After all, I've managed to narrow the contents of my wardrobe down to several bundles of shirts, organized by the length of their sleeves. I don't think a tank top will be worn, so those have been tossed to the side. The elimination process lead me down to a lightweight button-up shirt and some dark jeggings. I've worn worse willingly, that's for sure.

As I scoop my rejected clothes back into their rightful corners of my room, I sink down onto my bed, leaning back and staring towards the ceiling, blurred and unfocused.

I felt exposed to Rhett after letting him see what I was dealing with. I was embarrassed and ashamed but a matter of hours earlier. That alertness hasn't fully left my system yet, but, I really have to admit that he's good at making me feel like less of a burden. Almost as if he actually wants to do nice things for me. Impossible, right?

But, there's still fear. Buried under layers of other emotions, but it is distinct fear nonetheless. Having become so accustomed to fear, I'm not sure if it's normal. I'm sure people are undeniably scared when they .... like... someone new. But is it to this extent?

My phone vibrates against my hip. Pulling it out and unlocking it within a second, I see he sent me a photo.

I try to roll my eyes, yet a smile still snakes across my face.

"Thanks for that lmao. Now if you don't mind, I'm busy preparing for our little 'date.'" I reply, smirking to myself.