16-year-old daughter moves out of mom's house after discovering 12-year-old stepbrother has feelings for her, mom and stepdad refuse to confront him: ‘They just started laughing and told me to ignore it’

Author image for Bar Mor Hazut
Bar Mor Hazut • Senior Editor
Jul 30, 2025 2:00 PM EDT

Usually, finding out someone has feelings for you is supposed to be a nice feeling. Even if you do not feel the same, it can be pleasant to know that you caught someone's attention this way, and that they think you are someone worth their love and affection.

Then, there are those edge cases, when someone's crush is not remotely welcomed, and more often than not, it has something to do with that someone's age.

If the person who suddenly has romantic feelings towards you is significantly older, or worse, younger than you, finding out about their intentions is not something you wish to deal with, and definitely does not make you feel nice. The best thing to do is to turn them down gently and then avoid that person as much as you can. Maybe with some distance, their feelings can fade away and become a distant memory no one ever remembers.

But what do you do when you can't really avoid that person? What do you do when the one who has a crush on you is your 12-year-old stepbrother who lives with you in the same house?

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  • The solution for the 16-year-old daughter in the story below is to actually move out herself, especially when she realized her mom and stepdad are not going to do anything to help diffuse the situation.

    Is that the right decision, or should she just wait it out and see if her stepbrother's crush will pass in time?

    Keep scrolling to read the full story and let us know in the comments below.

  • 01
    Cheezburger Image 10534860544
    via Getty Images

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 02

    AITAH for refusing to see or talk to my stepbrother and mom after he invaded my privacy?

    So I (16 F) live with my father full time and go to my mother's house every weekend and every other week during the summer.
    via Standard_Elk_7274
  • 03
    My mom (38 F) has a boyfriend (37 M) we will call him Jack for privacy reasons. Jack has 3 kids (14 M, 12 M, and 10 M).
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  • 04
    I have always gotten along with Jack's kids except for the middle child let's call him Alex. Ever since I met Alex 4 years ago, he has acted weird towards me.
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  • 05
    Always following me around and being kind of clingy. a couple months after we met when I was 12 and he was 8 he asked me to be girlfriend and boyfriend.
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  • 06
    This made me uncomfortable, and I explained why that was wrong on so many different levels.
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  • 07
    Here is where my mom and her boyfriend come into play. I told them what happened and said it made me uncomfortable.
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  • 08
    They brushed it off saying that he had a crush and it was normal. they said it would go away eventually and not to worry about it.
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  • 09
    But it never really went away. I've caught him staring at me, he has always tried to hang out alone (specifically in the woods) and would throw tantrums if i hung out with his brothers instead of him.
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  • 10
    I've caught him sneaking into my room while i was sleeping (multiple times) and other things like this.
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  • 11
    This all brings me to a couple days ago when i was at my mom's house and me and Alex were hanging out and he was playing on his phone.
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  • 12
    Looking up at me every now and then. when he got up, he left his phone on the couch unlocked.
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  • 13
    I looked over and his notes app was open, and the most resent note had my name as the title.
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  • 14
    I know its wrong but i looked at the note. there wasn't much in the note but it was talking about how much he loved me and how the other week when i was at my dad's he went into my room and took clothing items.
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  • 15
    I ended up screenshotting this and sent it to myself.
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  • 16
    Cheezburger Image 10534863360
    via Getty Images

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 17
    I went into his room and found my stuff but instead of taking it back I took pictures of the things and went to my mom and her boyfriend.
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  • 18
    i feel like it's important to know that i have went to them multiple times about how he makes me uncomfortable, and they have always just ignored me.
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  • 19
    I showed them the pictures and the screenshots of what i saw. instead of doing something they just started laughing and told me it was just a crush and to ignore it.
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  • 20
    i ran out of the room and called my dad to pick me up. i haven't told him what's happening but when i got to my dad's house i sent a text to my mom saying.
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  • 21
    "Honestly I am not comfortable coming back to the house until i get a proper apology from you, jack, and Alex.
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  • 22
    I have been repeatedly violated and ignored and i am extremely uncomfortable I need to see real change before i talk to you guys again."
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  • 23
    then i told my dad. my mom and her boyfriend are blowing up my phone with insults and threats and i do not feel safe talking or seeing any of them right now.
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  • 24
    so am I the ahle for cutting my mom and my stepfamily off?
    via Standard_Elk_7274

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Tags

family drama aita kids brother mother teenagers siblings reddit story parenting family sister stepdad Reddit parents children Father moving out
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