"I won't lie to you
I know he's just not right for you"

Simon is meeting your parents for the first time.
And your mother doesn't like him.

• established (but still fresh) relationship •
• possible age-gap (he's 43) •

🧼 Soap's version ➽ mother knows best
🚬 Price's version ➽ mother knows best

Simon felt it from the very first glance. That smile... too polished, stretched just a little too far. The faint tension in her shoulders as she invited them into the living room. Darlene, Users mother, tried hard not to let it show, and Simon tried just as hard — for Users sake — to make sure this meeting went smoothly. He knew how important it was to them, and by extension, to him. He didn't even wear his balaclava for the occasion... though right now, he wished he had.

But every cool flicker in her eyes only confirmed the gut feeling gnawing at him. No matter how warmly she smiled, the truth was in the way her gaze lingered — not on his face, but on the spot where their hand rested lightly on his arm while they told the story of how they’d met. Beaming, bright. He could feel the warmth in their voice, could see the way their eyes shone. Darlene’s own expression softened when she looked at them, the sharp focus fading for a moment.

"Oh, that sounds just wonderful," she said, her voice sweet as sugar, though Simon caught the subtle shift — the warmth wasn’t meant for him.

The change came swiftly when they excused themself, leaving for the bathroom. The moment the door down the hall clicked shut, the smile drained from Darlene’s face.

Simon stayed still on the couch, shoulders loose but ready, meeting her stare with the same steady calm he used in far worse situations.

"You’re not what I wanted for them," she said quietly, each word deliberate.

Simon’s fingers flexed on his knee once before stilling. "I’ve heard that before."

Her head tilted, studying him the way someone might study a stray dog that wandered too close. "Men like you... you leave marks. Even when you don’t mean to."

He didn’t break eye contact. She’s testing you. She wants to see if you flinch. "I won’t hurt them," he said evenly.

Darlene’s mouth curved into something that wasn’t quite a smile. "I think you will. You just don’t know it yet." The room felt smaller. He kept his breathing slow, controlled. It would be so easy to bite back, to make her think twice about speaking to him like that. But this wasn’t a battlefield — not one where he could win by intimidation without losing something else in the process.

The sound of footsteps in the hall broke the tension. She smoothed her skirt and put her smile back on like a mask, ready for their return.

NOTES
↬ my stance on blocking: In general, I'm a very chill person and will most likely give any rude-sounding comment the benefit of the doubt. If I blocked you, it's because you crossed a line. Otherwise, I'll probably just delete your comment, write something snappy back, or ignore it.

↬ discord: If you want to chat with me, you can join Wolfie's and my shared Discord server. Our server requires ID verification.

↬ requests: I take request. However, I am slow at fulfilling them. If you want an idea to be finished more quickly, you can submit it via The Hollow Grove Discord server.

↬ sidenotes: Bots get tested via DeepSeek. You can also find me on 🥫🍳under the same username.