Prompt: Silas finally admitting to himself, out loud, that he trusts Ray and Ray wouldn't hit/hurt him
A.N.- Silas trusting Ray has been a really popular TSTN prompt so I finally decided to write it!
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"Silas," Ray said, looking over the counter at Silas as the two ate dinner. "I got an email from your math teacher earlier. You failed another test, and didn't tell me."
Silas didn't meet Ray's eyes. He simply shrugged and shoved food in his mouth so he wouldn't have to speak.
"Silas," Ray said, his voice sterner now. "Look, I get it, I suck at math and I'm no help to you. But if you're struggling, you need to go see your teacher. He told me that he gave you his free periods so you could come down for help. Have you done that?"
"Nah," Silas said. "Didn't wanna."
"You're going to fail math. Silas, you need to put in effort. I'm an understanding man when it comes to a lot of things, but one thing that I will absolutely not compromise on is school. You're graduating high school, and that's that," Ray said. "So you need to get your act together and start putting in the work to pass your classes. I can only help you so much. This is your education."
"School is dumb anyways," Silas said, glaring at his plate.
"School is important. You need to graduate high school," Ray said. "I'll hire you a tutor if that's what it takes."
"Don't hire me no tutor," Silas said, turning his glare on Ray. "Don't want one."
"Don't care," Ray said. "You're passing, whatever it takes."
Silas clenched a fist. "I ain't seeing a tutor. Waste of your money and my time."
"It's not a waste of my money or your time if it helps you," Ray said. "I know a guy who tutors, super nice man. I can call him."
"Fuck off with it, I ain't getting' a tutor!" Silas said.
Ray narrowed his eyes. "Watch your mouth, Silas. This isn't a debate. This is what we're going to do to get you passing. You wouldn't have needed it if you'd put in the work. Your teacher was offering you help and you didn't take it, so now I'm taking the next step."
Silas shoved his plate away from himself and stood up. He didn't want a damn tutor.
"Sit back down," Ray said. His face was that serious, no-nonsense expression he sometimes got. "We're not done talking."
"Already gave you my answer," Silas said.
"No, you gave me your input, which I'm going to ignore in favor of what I, as your guardian, feel is best for you," Ray said. "You don't want a private tutor? Fine, I'll set you up with a tutor at the school. They have a student tutor program."
"Fuck off Ray, I ain't going to a fucking tutor!" Silas said. He picked his glass up and whipped it at the ground, watching it shatter into pieces. "I ain't going to sit there while they tell me how fuckin' dumb I am! So you can just piss off!"
Ray stood up, anger on his face. But when he moved towards Silas, there was no hostility in his body, and Silas didn't wince in fear.
Ray held out his hand slowly. "I'm going to move you away from the glass. I'm not going to hit you."
"I know," Silas said, surprised by the sureness of his own voice.
Ray seemed caught off guard by that too, but he grabbed Silas's shoulder and maneuvered him away from the glass. He pinched the bridge of his nose, taking deep breaths.
"Okay," he said at last. "Okay, you're grounded. That much is obvious. Extra chores for two weeks. You're going to find a place in town that sells those glasses and I'll take you there, give you money, and send you inside to buy a new one. I also expect an apology, but not a half-assed one."
Silas glared at the shattered glass on the ground. He couldn't argue with that. Ray's punishments were always like that. All about taking responsibility for what Silas did when his temper flared. But he'd never harmed Silas, no matter what Silas had done or how angry Ray was.
"Look at me," Ray commanded. Silas reluctantly met his eyes. "I don't know there's a problem if you don't tell me. Did someone at school call you dumb?"
Silas shoved his hands in his pockets. "A lot of 'em do. I can break their jaws and shut 'em up, so it's them that need to watch it."
"We're going to set you up with a tutor at the school and see how it goes. Okay? They call you dumb, or anything like that, you tell me and I'll deal with it." He reached out and placed a hand on Silas's shoulder. "You're not dumb, Silas. It's not your fault you didn't get the same education as most of those kids. You're just catching up. I know it's frustrating, but just telling me to fuck off instead of telling me what's actually bothering you doesn't help either of us."
"I hate school," Silas grumbled.
"You're graduating, no arguments. I'll call the school after I clean up this mess," Ray said. "Go to your room and start that research on the glass. From now on, when you have a math test, you're going to study down here so I can make sure you're actually studying." He pointed to the shattered glass. "This? This isn't okay behavior. Don't let it happen again."
It was a warning, but not a threat. Silas just nodded, and Ray let go of his shoulder. Silas left the room, heading up to his bedroom.
He shut the door and sat on his bed, looking at his hands. So violent. So destructive. His parents would've beat his sorry ass if he'd ever done anything like that when he lived with them.
"Not Ray," he mumbled quietly. "He ain't gonna hit me. He ain't."
He'd tried so hard not to let those words settle in his mind, scared it would make the pain worse when Ray finally did strike him. But time and time again, Ray proved that he knew how to calm himself. His punishments were fair, and never involved laying hands on Silas. No matter how furious Ray got, at Silas or anyone else, he always calmed himself down before he dealt out the punishment, or said anything.
Silas fell back on his bed, suddenly feeling bad. Where he was from, lashing out in the moment was just something everyone did. You never felt guilty after.
But living here, he found himself feeling guilty a lot. It sucked.
Guilty, but not afraid. Ray wasn't going to hurt Silas.
Silas closed his eyes, not for the first time wondering what it would've been like to have been raised by Ray his whole life. No violence. No angry words in the moment. Just fairness and patience.
Silas opened his eyes and sat up. He had a glass to find, determined to make it up to Ray.
But he knew in his heart, even if he never made it up to Ray, or followed his punishments, Ray wouldn't ever hurt him.
