For Alex, this was just... pure thanks. It was a "Yay! I'm gonna be rich! You're the best!" hug.

But for poor, poor, panicked Violet?

Oh, no. No, no, no.

She was definitely feeling something... else... on her body. Her brain was just... short-circuiting. It was all sparks and ERROR! ERROR! messages.

She was so glad, so, so, SO glad, that he was at least wearing... something... this morning. A... a small pair of briefs, maybe? Some... shorts? She wasn't sure. She was too scared to look down.

But she knew, thank god, that he wasn't completely, horrifyingly... naked... like that last time.

...But...

Even with the clothes... she was still feeling... it.

She was feeling it, all hot and solid and hard, pressed right on her... her... nether region.

It was just there. Poking her. Right through her own thick, boring, modest-as-a-nun, ten-layer-feeling skirt.

And she knew.

Oh, god, she knew from what she had... seen before... in that very room... that the... thing... that was currently jabbing into her stomach... it wasn't small. It wasn't small at all.

And now it was just... pressing against her. Pressing. Hard.

And not just that! His... his attack on her nape! His FACE! His hot breath! His whiskers! His head, shaking back and forth, rubbing against her... it was... it was... it was making her squirm! Her knees were turning into wobbly, useless jelly!

"Thank you once again!" he finally boomed, his voice right in her ear, making her jump.

He pushed her back. Not away from him, but just... back. So he could look at her.

His big, strong hands were still clamped down on her tiny, little shoulders.

And... and... he shook her.

He just... shook her small frame back and forth. Jiggle, jiggle, jiggle!

She was rattled like a... like a tiny, scared ragdoll! Her head was wobbling on her neck! She didn't know what to do! Should she scream?! Should she faint?! What was happening?!

"Oh!! Violet!" he yelled, his face still split with that huge, crazy, happy-as-a-madman grin.

"What should I do to you?! What should I do to you?!"

Alex, of course, was just... thinking. His brain was moving too fast. He was thinking about doing something nice for her. A reward! For being so smart! For remembering what he told her! For waking him up at exactly the right time!

'Maybe I'll buy her... a... a new hat?' he thought, manically. 'Or... or a new dress! A less-boring one! Yeah! Girls like that!'

Meanwhile...

Violet's poor, poor, completely-fried brain... just... broke.

Her eyes spun. The whole hallway just... tilted sideways.

She heard his words. What... should... he... do... to her...?!

'OH MY GOD! PLEASE! DON'T DO ANYTHING TO ME!!!' she screamed, inside her own, panicking, terror-filled head.

And... just to add to her pure, unadulterated, internal screaming terror... she was... completely gone. Her brain just left. It packed its bags and fled when he suddenly beamed at her, like he'd just had the best idea in the entire universe.

"You know what?" he said, his voice way too loud and happy for eight o'clock in the morning. "I know how to thank you! I will just give you a... a small kiss! How about it? One little kiss! To... to start... our new, normal relationship! Yeah! A normal step-son and step-mom kiss! Come on, Violet! Chu... chu... chu..."

And then... oh god... he...

He puckered his lips.

He made a big, stupid, kissy-face, all puckered up and wet-looking. And he started leaning in. Leaning... closer... and closer... right towards her face, still making those awful, ridiculous... "chu chu chu" sounds.

"WAIT! NO! STOP! WAIT A MINUTE, ALEX!"

Violet's brain just... snapped.

She didn't even think. Her body just moved. She shrieked out the words and flung her hand up, fast. She slammed her flat palm right onto his jaw, her fingers spread wide.

"IT'S... IT'S INAPPROPRIATE!!!"

Her arm was locked straight, holding his stupid, puckered, kissy-face away from her. It was like a scene from a bad comedy movie.

Alex... just... paused.

He froze like that, mid-lean, with her hand still mashed against his face. He blinked. Once. Twice.

The kissy-face... vanished.

It was instantly replaced... by the most heartbroken, confused, sad-little-puppy face she had ever, ever seen in her entire life. His whole, big, happy-crazy-manic energy just... popped. It just... died.

"W-what?" he asked, his voice suddenly all... small. And sad. "Inappropriate?"

He pulled his head back and she snatched her hand away like it was on fire.

"But... I... I thought... I thought son's kissed their mom's?" he asked. He looked... crushed.

He looked right at her, and his eyes got... huge. They got all big, and wide, and wet, and droopy at the corners. It was the full, 10,000-watt, please-don't-kick-me... puppy-dog-eyes attack.

"Don't... don't you see me as your son, Violet?" he whispered, his voice cracking, like she had just... shattered his entire world.

...Oh.

...Oh, no.

Violet... stared. She got trapped.

She was just... staring deep, deep... into those big, sad, manipulative-as-hell... puppy eyes.

And her brain was just... at war.

One half of her brain, the smart half, the sane half, was SCREAMING. It was shrieking,

'NO! NO! DON'T DO IT! IT'S A TRAP! HE'S A MANIAC! HE'S THE BULLY! HE'S THE ONE WITH THE... THE...THING...IN HIS SHORTS!! RUN, VIOLET! RUUUUN!'

...But the other half... the stupid, lonely, desperate-for-a-family half... was just sobbing.

It knew... it just knew, deep down... that this was... a test.

She knew... the circumstances.

She knew, with a horrible, sinking, dread-filled certainty... that if she refuses him... here... now...

...that she will never... ever... ever... have that "normal" step-son, step-mom relationship that he just mentioned. He would... he would... hate her... forever. He would be sad. And it would all be her fault.

...After a long, long, agonizing moment...

...She gulped.

It was a huge, loud, painful-sounding gulp. It probably echoed in the hallway.

...And then...

...Slowly...

...She nodded her head. Just once. A tiny, tiny, jerky, miserable... nod.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.